Reno of the Turks
by RenoLuvver
Summary: RenoxElena. Tseng and Rude are in here too. The life of a Turk is never calm. So this is just some random adventures all slapped together with a main plot too actually. Just read the first chapters. If you don't like it, stop. xD
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Ok, so before I get started here, I just want to thank anyone for taking the time to read this. =P It's my first Fan Fiction ever, also only my second attempt at writing something that's not for school. =) So I'm new to this, and just doing my best! So far, it's the largest thing I've ever written by at least 8,000 words. I don't have that much of it posted yet, because I have some editing to do first. I would really, really appreciate any comments as I'm sure it would inspire me to write more/post more quickly if I knew someone out there cared. =P I noticed that there isn't a ton of huge amazing Reno Fan Fics out there so I'm trying to do my part to spread the love with my fellow fangirls! I won't hold you up any longer, so read away and enjoy. =P_

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to SquareEnix. As a fellow author said, "I just use them for my sadistic pleasures." Or something like that. Forgive me if I'm wrong. I believe it was Shakai who said that in one of her Reno Fan Fics. If you are reading this Shakai, great work! I really enjoy your stuff. Ok so this is like an extension of my author's note, not just a disclaimer. So I'm going to just shut up now and let you get on with it. =)_

**Reno of the Turks**

_Elena could clearly see Reno's panic filled eyes as the last of the precious air in his lungs floated off toward the surface in several large bubbles. A hand was squeezing his throat, choking the last shreds of life out of the red-haired Turk. She knew she had to reach him soon and pry the grip from her partner's neck or he would be gone. It was so hard to move under-water. She could see Reno's face so close, but she felt a mile away. Her panic rose when he slowly stopped struggling and went limp. Those bright aquamarine eyes that had always been so full of life and mocking laughter were empty. Reno was dead. The fact hit her like a train as she stared at his pale face. A scream, strangely muted under-water, broke from her lips as she saw the hand release Reno's neck. Her hand. Elena reeled with confusion and shock as she realized, even as she watched his body sink gently, that she had drowned Reno. The screams came endlessly now as she struggled to grasp what had just happened._

Elena's eyes snapped open at the sound of her muffled screams. She frantically clutched the pillow her face had been planted in to her chest. Her panting breaths slowly became more regular, although still shaky, as she registered where she was. She closed her eyes softly and flopped over onto her back, pressing a hand over her racing heart. _Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream._She shuddered and opened her eyes again as a painfully vivid image of Reno's lifeless face flashed in her mind. Gazing around the room as her vision adjusted to the darkness, Elena lay very still, hearing nothing but her own quickly beating heart. Eventually she turned her head on the pillow to glance at her clock. 2 am. She sighed and groaned softly as she covered her face with her hands. Only a few hours of sleep.

She whipped her hands off her face and slipped out of bed as another horrific image engulfed her mind. Leaning against the wall near her bed, she looked at her hands, palms spread upward and wondered if she would ever be able to look at them the same. Her small, but strong hands had squeezed the life out of her fellow Turk. _Damn, I won't be getting any sleep tonight. Again. _She dragged a blanket off her bed and went to settle herself on the couch in the front room of her apartment. She flipped through the channels looking for anything to rid her mind of those terrible thoughts and images.

The routine was getting old, fast. Go to sleep, have a horrific nightmare, wake up haunted by what her mind had shown her, and try fruitlessly to sleep again. It had been going on for several nights now. Dark rings under her eyes were becoming a permanent fixture on her face. _Reno's perfectly fine! _She scowled angrily as the images of Reno flashed through her head in quick succession. Over the past few nights, she had watched helplessly as he had died any number of times, only to discover that she was always the killer. The deaths were different every time, although all were equally gruesome. It was enough to unnerve anyone, even a trained Turk. Tseng was beginning to give her strange looks as she staggered tiredly into work every morning looking, accurately, as though she'd barely slept. Reno had teased her endlessly, coming up with many horrible reasons as to why she looked the way she did. What was she to do? Explain that she was tired because she kept dreaming that she was killing him? Elena smiled a tight smile as she imagined him struggling to come up with a come-back to that. _It will pass soon enough_. She didn't believe it. With a sigh she resigned herself to watching sappy romance movies until it was time to go to work.

Reno sauntered into the Shinra Inc. building that morning on time for once. He grinned and winked at the pretty brunette receptionist as she looked at him, surprised. He laughed silently as he watched her check the watch on her wrist and the large clock on the wall above her. _I should come in on time more often._ It would definitely be a new and unexpected way to shock his co-workers. He leaned against the elevator wall, feeling it rise swiftly to his floor, as he considered ways to get out of the mission Tseng had for him. The Turk leader had informed Reno and Elena the day before that they would be going with the President as security. It was mostly precautionary. No one was expected to threaten the President's safety at a simple welcome speech to the new recruits. _Probably because no one would want to listen to even a minute of those boring speeches, even to kill the head of Shinra. _Reno smirked, shoving off the wall as the shiny stainless steel doors slid open silently. He rushed past Rude with a gigantic smile and a boisterous 'good morning' before rushing on, leaving the silent bald man shocked to see his red-headed friend so early.

"Hey, boss!" Reno said loudly, thoroughly enjoying the surprised look on Tseng's face as Reno leaned in the doorway, "Thought I'd come get the details about the mission you've got for me and the rookie. Let me guess, watch the President's back and try not to die of boredom?"

"Reno? What are you doing here…on time?" Tseng asked, a mixture of surprise and suspicion on his face.

"I just told you. Should've been listening better," Reno strolled over to the desk and perched on the end of it, swiping a folder out of Tseng's hand, "I assume this is it." He flipped through the folder quickly, noting the amount of un-filled paperwork with an internal groan.

"Um…yeah that's it. You're due to leave in 15 minutes," the Turk leader replied, recovering from his surprise quickly.

"Sorry I'm late!" Elena cried, rushing into the room trying to examine her gun and chug a cup of hot black coffee at the same time.

"Hey, look who finally showed up!" Reno grinned at her tauntingly, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming." She glared at him before replying,

"You're one to talk! I'm surprised you don't have a raging hangover!"

Reno pretended to look hurt by her words.

"Me? A hangover? _At work?_" his voice sounded so innocent it would have fooled anyone except for the teasing look in his aquamarine eyes, "I would never!" Tseng groaned and rolled his eyes. Elena opened her mouth to reply when Tseng cut her off,

"Shut it you two. Get what you need and get to the helipad before the President notices you're late."

"Sure thing boss," Reno said, flashing his trademark grin, "sorry I'm being held up by the rookie." He snickered as Elena gave him one last withering glare before hurrying out of the office and down the hall. Reno was about to follow her out the door when Tseng's voice stopped him.

"Oh, Reno. Keep an eye on Elena, she seems pretty exhausted lately," he said worriedly.

"She'll be fine, don't worry about it," Reno waved his hand in the air as if the matter were so inconsequential he was simply wiping it away. Tseng just nodded before turning back to his paperwork as Reno sprinted down the hall to catch the elevator before Elena left without him.

The two Turks had been in the elevator for only a minute when the doors slid open to admit an attractive secretary with a sheaf of papers in her hand. Elena watched, annoyed, as Reno perked up at once. He watched the woman push a floor just a few below the roof where they were headed. With a devilish grin and a wink for Elena, he reached a long arm over and deliberately pushed every floor between the one they were on and the woman's floor. Elena let out a loud, exasperated sigh and leaned her head back on the elevator wall, massaging her temples. Reno casually leaned against the wall next to the secretary and proceeded to ask several questions about her work, smiling irresistibly the whole time.

"You got plans tonight? I know this great little place right around the corner…" His coaxing voice was clearly working.

"Reno, behave!" Elena snapped before the young woman could answer. Reno looked over his shoulder at Elena, mildly surprised, as the lady he was talking to blushed bright red and stared down at her shoes. Reno spit his tongue out teasingly at Elena's glare and turned back to the secretary.

"She's just a little jealous is all," he said snickering softly, "don't mind her." The woman was too embarrassed to carry on the conversation, and silence settled over the three almost making Elena regret speaking out. When her floor finally arrived, the woman hurried out glancing back at Reno with wide eyes. He winked and waved, causing a fresh wave of red to cover her face as she looked away quickly.

"If we get yelled at it's your fault," Elena said sourly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aww, don't be upset," he said playfully, nudging her with his shoulder. She scowled darkly and shoved him back with her shoulder. He bent down to peer up into her face, only the ghost of a smile on his face. His aquamarine eyes were coaxing. She looked away quickly, with a sharp intake of breath as those eyes flashed lifeless in her head. Before the moment could get any more awkward, the elevator doors slid open on the roof. Several helicopters were spaced out over the massive area. The whir of blades whipped the air into a frenzy, making Reno's red ponytail fly around. They quickly walked over to the President who was too busy speaking to his assistants to notice they were late.

"Let's get moving!" a voice boomed above the noise as several Shinra executives and many members of the normal security force boarded their respective helicopters.

Elena settled back in her chair, hoping to get some rest while she could. She and Reno were sitting up front of the President's aircraft. Reno was swiveled around in the co-pilot's chair to face her. She found herself watching her red-haired partner as he, being an excellent pilot himself, critically eyed every move the pilot made. The pilot was obviously more than a bit intimidated by this careful scrutiny. He was constantly flexing his fingers and stealing glances at Reno while flying in formation with the other helicopters, all emblazoned with the Shinra logo. Elena jumped slightly and rubbed her eyes vigorously, doing a double-take. She could have sworn that moments ago Reno's shirt was covered in blood. Her dreams were haunting her endlessly now. When she dared to look again, he was watching her curiously, the faintest line of worry etched into his forehead. He slipped out of his chair once he caught her gaze and came to sit by her.

"Hey," he said so softly that the pilot couldn't hear, "are you ok, Elena?" She couldn't bear to look at his face, fearing what horrible image would attack her, so she stared at his shirt collar instead.

"I'm fine," she muttered, leaning her head on her hand. He shrugged and sat back in his chair, closing his eyes as he laid his head back.

"Don't tell me if you don't want to," he said, his voice oddly kind, "but remember that if something's bothering you, you can tell me." She looked up at him then. He cracked an eye open and grinned before his voice returned to it's normal teasing tone,

"If it's about how much you love me though you might want to save if for after the mission," he said reaching over to tug on her short blonde hair. Elena swatted his hand away, her astonishment at this new side of Reno quickly fading to annoyance. He was just messing with her. As usual.

"You're so conceited!" She scooted as far away from him as she could, crossing her arms over her chest and looking the other way. He just laughed and stretched his long legs out in front of him, entwining his fingers over his stomach.

The flight was a short one, and soon they were landing on the Junon airstrip. The Turks took their places near the President as their helicopter landed smoothly. Reno was out the door almost before the craft hit the ground, scanning the area quickly while questioning the nearest captain about the military base's security. There wasn't a trace of the sarcasm that was usually his constant companion. _No wonder he's one of the best._ Elena mused, slightly awed as she watched him barking out orders as if he owned the place. He quickly returned and fell into step with the President's group consisting of a few choice executives and many soldiers. The two Turks flanked the head of Shinra on either side as they made their way toward the open field where a large platform had been erected. All of the soldiers at the base were assembled as well as hundreds of new recruits.

"You watch the left, I'll watch the right," Reno muttered to Elena as the group split up on the platform. The executives took their places in the chairs provided for them. The soldiers lined up behind them all as the President took the podium after a few words of welcome from the base commander. Reno and Elena stood several meters behind the President and to the sides. Both began scanning the crowd meticulously for any potential threat.

Elena glanced over the assembled soldiers slowly, feeling her eyelids grow heavier every second. _How long has it been since I've had a full night's sleep? 3 days? 4? 5? _She imagined how good a soft, warm bed would feel. _Come on, Elena. You can do this. Just a couple more hours and then you can crash. If only his speeches weren't so boring! _The President's monotonous voice droned on and on, his words slowly becoming less and less distinct to her ears until it settled into a mere buzz. Before long, Elena was asleep, miraculously still standing upright.

_Here go another couple hours of my life completely wasted_. Reno resisted the urge to yawn as the President began his speech which was sure to be lengthy and utterly boring. No one in the audience seemed unordinary. The red-head noticed many who were already nodding off. Still, he didn't stop examining his side of the crowd for a minute. The sun was shining half-heartedly which brightened the place up a bit, but no amount of sunlight could make the President's speech any less long or less boring. Reno had been searching the right half of the group for almost an hour when something changed. Something was shimmering just on the edge of his sight, something from the left; Elena's side. The sun was glinting off of a gun. Held in the raised hand of a man in the very back of the assembled group. It was pointed straight for the Shinra President. Instinct taking over, Reno dashed towards the President. A shot fired and the two men collided.

_Author's Note: *gasp* Cliffhanger! lol Get used to it, I like ending things on a dramatic note. Just don't worry too much. THERE WILL BE MORE! I have been thrown into despair by an unfinished Fan Fic too many times to leave you guys hanging. So rest easy knowing that you might have to wait, but I will never, ever, ever leave a Fan Fic unfinished. So please review! If you need a Reno "fix" while you wait for the rest, I recommend you read Shakai or Desha's stuff. It's good. =P Nobody be offended if I didn't mention your Fan Fic. I might not have read it yet. =P If you want me to, leave a comment. =P lol Ok, so you may have noticed I like to talk. I'm going to start a blog at some point, but I'm too busy writing about Reno in my spare time! So that will have to wait and for now you'll have to suffer with my randomly huge author's notes. Alright, I'm going to leave it at that. xD_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Ok, so I was going to wait awhile longer before posting the next chapter. But then I got some nice reviews today and decided I didn't have it in my heart to leave you guys at a cliffhanger like that for long. =) I want to thank Laney for being the first reviewer. It made me very happy. Also, thanks to lovee xx and Naril for posting reviews as well. I really appreciate knowing that somebody cares. =P So thanks so much! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people. I just control them with my magical authoress pencil! xD Maybe I should make Reno do the disclaimer..._

_Reno: NO! You already make me do enough! *pouts* _

_Authoress: Don't you have something to say? *pokes Reno with magical authoress pencil*_

_Reno: *slaps pencil away and reads off script given to him by the authoress* Thank you for posting the first review, Laney. I will reward you with a huuuuuuuge hug. *stops reading script* What? Now you are using my affections to incite more readers to review? Such a cruel, cruel world. *walks away*_

_Authoress: *sweatdrop* Ok, you guys can read this chapter while I go make Reno come back! *runs off* _

Elena's refreshingly dreamless sleep was shattered in an instant by the harsh bang of gunfire. She jumped as her eyes snapped open and her head whipped around, trying to locate the origin of the sound. The crowd had erupted, everyone running around and yelling. She saw a man, in the military uniform, running away from everyone else. Closer, she saw the President crash to the floor, knocked down by Reno. The soldiers who had been neatly lined up in the back now rushed forward, instantly surrounding the President. All the Shinra employees were being rushed back to their waiting helicopters. Alarms were sounding, people were bumping past her, and an authoritive voice was shouting over a loudspeaker. Elena didn't notice any of this. All she saw was Reno, crumpled on the ground where he had fallen since knocking the President out of the way. He hadn't moved. She stared, wide-eyed with shock, for just a second before running over to her partner, ignoring the people she shoved out of the way. As she crashed to the ground by his side, her dreams flashed back to her violently.

"No," she whispered urgently to no one, "it can't be, I won't let it come true!" Hands shaking, she grabbed Reno's shoulder and turned him so he lay on his back. His eyes were closed tightly, pain showing clearly on his face. He gritted his teeth and sucked in a small breath when she moved him. Relief flooded her only to turn again to panic as she saw the blood seeping out from between his fingers. Reno was holding a hand tightly over his left side near his stomach. A bright red stain was growing steadily on his shirt.

"Oh damn," Elena breathed, her voice shaky and a bit shrill, "Reno, let me see." She reached for his hand, but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand.

"The President, Elena," he gasped, muttering curses as he tried to sit up, "where's the President?" He looked at her and his piercing blue eyes seemed to be looking at her from a great distance.

"Reno, the President is fine," she pushed him back to the ground, holding him there as he kept struggling to get up, "he's already on his way back to Midgar." Elena glanced up at the black helicopters as they flew away quickly. "You've been shot, Reno! Stay still and let me see." Reno stopped struggling and moaned softly. She gently picked his hand off the wound and held it tightly with one of her own. She winced at the bullet wound in his side. Feeling her panic rising, she concentrated hard on remembering her emergency first-aid training. _Apply pressure to stop the bleeding._ _Alright, you can do this Elena, he's going to be okay. _Reno cringed as she pressed her hand over the hole in his side.

"Ok, there's got to be a doctor or something around here," Elena said, beginning to regain her composure now that she had something to focus on. She looked around but nobody was left on the platform. Most of the soldiers had left the field. _Crap, how am I going to get help for him now! I can't leave him here alone. _Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell ringing. The sound was so unexpected she blinked and stared at her jacket pocket. The phone rang a second time, and Elena let go of Reno's hand and dug the phone out of her pocket.

"It's Tseng," she said to Reno, flipping it open, "Tseng, hey, I'm so glad you called. I need help _right now_. Somebody shot at the Pres-"

"I know," Tseng cut her off, "We got the news just a minute ago. Why didn't one of you report? What's happened, Elena?" His voice was worried and annoyed at the same time.

"I'm fine, but Reno's been shot, Tseng!" her voice was shaking again, "I need some help, I can't take him anywhere myself and there isn't anyone else around!"

"Elena, calm down," Tseng said sternly, then relayed the information to someone else, "We're coming. We'll be there in 10 minutes. Keep him still and try to stop the bleeding. Is he conscious?" Elena could hear running feet from over the phone. She looked at Reno's face. His eyes were closed and his breaths were shallow and irregular.

"I think he's still awake, but he's already lost a lot of blood and it's still coming. He could faint any minute."

"Just hang on, Elena," Tseng said earnestly, "We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Alright. Bye." She snapped her phone closed and dropped it to the ground.

"Hey, Reno," she said softly, "Tseng and Rude are coming and they're going to get you some help ok? Just hang on a little longer. Everything's going to be alright."

She stared anxiously at his face. Little beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. His already pale skin seemed even paler, especially contrasted against the bright red blood that stained their hands and his shirt. She reached out and smoothed his unruly hair out of his face. _How could this have happened to Reno? He's not the type to get hurt on the job. He's too good for that. _The image flashed in her mind again: Reno hitting the President, both of them falling to the ground, the would-be assassin running away. Away from the left side of the soldiers that had been assembled. Her side. Elena could feel herself go pale. _Oh…no. It can't be. _

"Reno?" She had to be know, she had to be sure, "Reno, where was the man with the gun standing?" Despite her best efforts, her voice came out shaky and broken. Reno opened his eyes to glance around and then, barely moving his arm, waved a hand toward where the man had been. Elena could have sworn her stomach dropped to her feet. The man had been on her side. She had fallen asleep on the job and Reno had been shot because she hadn't been watching her side like she was supposed to.

She stared at Reno's face in horror. _This _was her fault. If it hadn't been for her, Reno would be his perky, pain-in-the-ass self. Elena hung her head, unable to even look at her fellow Turk anymore. How could she when she had practically shot him herself? _I'm unfit to be a Turk._ At this moment she hated herself, she had failed at her job and caused a friend to be injured. Her eyes clouded and hot tears of misery slowly trickled down her face.

"Reno?" The voice seemed far-away, though he knew Elena was right beside him. "Reno, where was the man with the gun standing?" She sounded strange. But then again, everything was sounding strange. _Looking strange too,_ he realized as he opened his eyes a crack, trying to figure out exactly where he was. Everything swum a little and was blurry but he managed to wave a hand in the direction the man had been. _Why would she want to know?_ His mind was too foggy to focus on anything so he let it go. _Damn this hur__ts. _He focused on staying as still as possible, and breathing as softly as he could. Even that slight movement sent pangs through his side, worse then the constant pain that already burned there fiercely.

Reno looked around. He needed something to focus on to get his mind off it until Tseng and Rude arrived with, hopefully, some damn powerful pain-killer. _They'd better not forget it, or they'll have hell to pay._ He glanced at Elena. She was kneeling beside him, one hand pressed over his wound, the other laying limply in her lap. She was staring down at it, tears rolling down her face. Reno was a little surprised. _Why is she crying?_

"Hey," he whispered weakly, "what's the matter? I'm the one who's hurt here." He forced a grin, although he knew it probably looked more like a grimace. She turned her face to him. Her eyes were filled with misery.

"That's the problem," she whispered back, her voice wavering, "you _shouldn't _be hurt. You wouldn't have if I hadn't been a damned failure and fallen asleep." Her voice cracked and she turned her face away.

_Ah, so that was it. No wonder she didn't do anything to alert me. She didn't even see the man until after he'd fired._

"Elena, it wasn't your fault," he said gently, "there was nothing either of us could have done to prevent it." He reached a hand up and brushed her short blonde hair behind her ear. His long fingers softly wiped the tears off her face. She looked so sad. He didn't like it at all. _I want her to be happy._ The thought was new to him, but somehow it didn't surprise him.

"Please smile, Elena," he pleaded, "don't beat yourself up about this. It's ok, I promise." She turned back to him, her face hesitant. "C'mon, at least a small grin?" At this she did smile, drying the last few tears with her sleeve.

"There, that's better," Reno sighed, closing his eyes. He pressed his hand over Elena's, increasing the pressure on his wound slightly. He tried not to, but felt his face twinge. She sighed and muttered something about Tseng and Rude. It was so quiet, so peaceful. Strange, he didn't feel the pain as much anymore. It, along with all other feeling, faded slowly. He just barely heard pounding steps before he sunk into darkness.

Elena watched Reno's face worriedly. He didn't look pained at all anymore, just tired. _He's probably unconscious._ _Tseng and Rude better get here quick._ A small sound met her ears. The familiar beat of helicopter blades. She searched the sky frantically and spotted it. A black helicopter, flying much faster than was really allowed, was coming towards the Junon base. She lost sight of it as it descended swiftly over the airstrip. Relief flooded her at once. Tseng and Rude were almost here. They'd be sure Reno was alright. She looked at his face. It seemed as if he were only sleeping. _Please smile, Elena. _He'd sounded so urgent. Was it really that important that she smiled? Especially when she was the only thing keeping his life's blood from spilling everywhere? _That's Reno alright. Always an enigma. _Someone shouted her name. Elena turned to see Tseng and Rude sprinting toward her.

_Author's Note: Poor, poor Reno. Well hopefully I can post a lot more next time, but I haven't finished writing it yet and I don't want to be pressured to write more because then it wouldn't be as good. I'm trying to keep some buffer space. So if I have a bad day writing wise I don't have to stress about having nothing to post. Actually I had a bad day with writing yesterday. =( I just couldn't make the words work for me. And then I got fed up with everything I'd written the day before, so that was about two days wasted. Luckily, today I figured out what was going to happen, so I just need to hope the magical pencil doesn't lose it's magic. xD Well that's all for the author's note right now. I need to go write! _

_Reno: Remember to post reviews! Or else... *glares darkly* _

_Authoress: See? He's back! =P _


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: So I'm really happy with how this is going so far...I still have a lot more written so maybe I can post a couple more chapters before I have to slow down. =) I can't spend every waking moment writing, as much as I'd like to. I'm very grateful to my faithful readers who have reviewed both chapters so far. =) Your reviews give me warm fuzzy feelings which make me want to write more so I can post it! So keep reviewing. =P I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Makes me feel all good inside to know that other people are appreciating my work! _

_Reno: Thank you for posting reviews. Threats always work. And where threats fail, seduction will succeed! *grins evilly* _

_Authoress: Please try and behave, Reno. Well, nevermind, we love you just the way you are. xD Anyway, enjoy this chapter readers! _

Elena was sleeping soundly, collapsed in a chair, a small frown on her face. _She must have been exhausted._ Rude remembered her face when she'd seen them coming. She'd looked so worried and tired, but obviously relieved to see them. He looked over to Reno. The red-head was still unconscious, laid across several chairs. Hopefully he would be feeling better when he woke up. The pain-killer they'd injected should have taken effect at once. _He got himself shot pretty good._ Rude sighed and laid his head back. The adrenaline rush was long gone and he felt tired now.

Reno shifted and muttered something. Rude watched him carefully until the man settled again. He leaned over and lifted up one side of Reno's completely unbuttoned shirt. The bandages were already damp with blood. _Dammit._ He got up and went to sit next to Tseng who was expertly flying back to Midgar. The Turk leader had already called the hospital and yelled at enough people to ensure everything would be waiting just how he wanted.

"How's he doing?" Tseng asked grimly, never taking his eyes off the open air before him.

"Not good."

Tseng sighed and sped up.

Elena woke up, looking over to Reno at once. His chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly, but steadily at least. Through his open shirt she could see the bandages Tseng and Rude had hastily wrapped around him. One long arm was laying over the edge of the chairs they had laid him on. She carefully picked his hand off the floor and set it back over his stomach. Reno's face was much paler than usual and there were dark circles under his eyes. Elena sighed and picked his head up gently to rearrange his jacket which had been placed under his head. A pathetic substitute for a pillow. She laid his head down again softly and placed a hand on the man's chest. The heart beat she felt was comforting but scared her at the same time. It was much too weak and beat irregularly. _We'll be there soon, Reno,_ she told him silently, _just hang on. _

Everything was fuzzy. Sounds, feelings, thoughts. Reno knew his eyes were closed and he briefly thought about opening them before the thought slipped away. He felt a soft touch on his chest, but then again he couldn't be sure. Thoughts and images floated around in his head. He felt himself being moved, heard voices yelling. Some of them were familiar some weren't. Many faces looked down at him. He couldn't make sense of anything. Clearly something was wrong and he wasn't able to move or think straight. He struggled to fight off the fog that enshrouded his mind. The voices only got louder and more urgent. Someone was holding him still and a new face looked down at him. He knew that face.

"Reno, it's going to be ok." It was the only thing he heard clearly. _Elena, _he thought, strangely calmed. Then everything went black.

"Now, Elena," Tseng said, sitting down next to her in the waiting area, "explain what happened." Elena didn't feel the horror and misery she'd felt earlier return as she'd expected. She only felt emptiness.

"I fell asleep," she said. Her voice sounded monotonous and strange. "I fell asleep and didn't see the man pull a gun on the President. It was on my side so I assume Reno didn't see it either. Not until it was too late at least. He knocked the President out of the way and took the bullet," she looked up at Tseng, "I failed my mission and Reno was shot because of me."

Tseng clearly hadn't been expecting that. Neither had Rude. Both men stared at her.

"He told me it was ok. He said there wasn't anything either of us could have done. I don't know if I believe him." Silence reigned.

"If Reno said that, then it's probably true," Rude said, "It wasn't your fault, Elena." The man's voice was gentle, a strange sound coming from such an intimidating figure.

"Rude's right," Tseng agreed, putting a hand on her shoulder, "There wasn't anything you could have done." A soft chime came from the man's pocket. He pulled out his cell and spoke a curt greeting.

"Alright," he said after a minute and slid the phone back into his pocket, "Rude, we've got our man. Let's go." The two men stood and Rude cracked his knuckles ominously.

"Elena, don't leave Reno alone," Tseng said, "We'll be back sometime tonight. If not, I'll call."

"But…where are you going?" Elena asked, confused. Tseng stiffened and his eyes were frighteningly steely.

"You don't harm one of the Turks and get away with it," he said, his voice cold and tinged with anger. They left quickly, leaving Elena sitting alone, waiting for news of Reno.

A few hours later, a nurse in a crisp white dress approached her tentatively.

"Uh…Elena?" She asked politely. Elena looked up at the woman anxiously.

"Your friend is out of surgery. He's going to be okay, he just needs to rest. You can see him now if you'd like." Elena just nodded and followed the nurse down the hall, her relief almost making her weak in the knees. Moments later, the nurse ushered Elena into a typical hospital room.

"He's sleeping now, but you can stay as long as you like," the woman said. Normally patients recovering from surgery weren't allowed to have visitors for more than a few minutes. Apparently when Tseng yelled enough, he got all the special favors he wanted. The nurse checked a few of the machines littered around and then left quietly. Elena stood at the foot of the bed, just staring.

Reno's vibrantly red hair stood out drastically against the ultra-white sheets and his pale skin. He was indeed sleeping soundly, his breathing much more steady than it had been. A new, clean white shirt was half-way buttoned up, revealing the small electrodes stuck to his chest and a bit of the bandages wrapped neatly around his stomach. The rest was covered by blankets.

Elena walked around to stand by his side. She fingered the edge of his shirt, smiling softly. That was one of the conditions Reno insisted on. He refused to go to the hospital unless they let him wear sweatpants and a shirt. He had claimed he would rather die from not receiving hospital treatment than wear a dress. _Only Reno,_ she thought, peeking at the bandage. He wasn't bleeding anymore.

She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down, watching his sleeping face. A pang of guilt made her flinch slightly. Everyone had told her it wasn't her fault, there was nothing she could have done, but she still felt responsible. The stable beeps coming from the near-by machine were comforting. She carefully set her hand on the bed, resting her fingertips gently on the back of his hand. She sat like that for a long time, staring out the window at the Midgar skyline. It was quiet. The only sounds were the beeps that represented Reno's heartbeat, and his breathing. The sun was setting somewhere, but it was already twilight in Midgar. The tall buildings blocked any of the sun's last rays. Before too long, Elena had fallen asleep, her fingertips brushing the back of Reno's hand softly.

"Elena?" A soft voice woke her up. Tseng had a hand on her shoulder. A lamp had been turned on, and Reno had shifted in his sleep, pulling his hand away from hers. Another nurse was in the room as well, checking all the machines and avoiding looking or speaking to the Turks as much as possible. Their reputation didn't exactly make them seem approachable.

"You can go home now and get some sleep," Tseng said quietly, "Rude or I will stay with him."

"You guys are back already?" she yawned, stretching her arms.

"Mission accomplished," Tseng said, "He won't bother anyone again. And neither will whoever finds the body. Rude made sure of that. A little more obvious than I'd like, but it gets the message across."

The other man stood silently in the shadows, still wearing his trademark sunglasses.

"He's like a brother to me," Rude said, gesturing toward Reno. Elena was surprised. Rude rarely spoke and when he did, he never said anything emotional.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with him?" she asked, "You two are probably tired." Tseng shook his head.

"You've been with him this whole time. We'll all take shifts. You need to go home and rest while you can."

"I'll be back first thing tomorrow," Elena said, getting up and straightening her suit.

"A little late for that," Tseng said, with a small chuckle, "It's already 1 am. See you in a few hours is more like it."

Rude took Elena home before heading to his own apartment. Elena slipped into her pajamas and slid under the covers. Her eyes were closed before her head hit the pillow. She was completely exhausted. A deep, dreamless sleep awaited her. The last thing she heard was Reno's voice.

_Please smile, Elena._

_Author's Note: Well isn't that sweet. =P So this isn't as much of a cliffhanger ending as the other two have been. Come back and read the next chapter anyway though. Hopefully it's good enough to keep people coming back. _

_Oh, Naril, I did have a good writing day today. =) I'm going to post this and then go write some more. Let's hope I keep having good writing days, because as long as I do I might be able to keep posting a chapter a day! I practically stalk my own story. I log on like every hour or so to check how many hits my story has. =P Well thanks to everyone for reviewing and reading etc. I'm eternally grateful. So is Reno. *jabs Reno with elbow*_

_Reno: *surprised* What? Oh, right. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I think I already mentioned what would happen if you didn't. *points to previous comment about threats* _

_Authoress: Well hopefully the next chapter will be posted soon, keep checking back, or better yet favorite the story!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Well, guess what? I had a good writing day yesterday. Sadly, I don't have time to write today. =( So I'm just going to post this for now. I'll write extra tomorrow to make up for it. =) Who knows? Maybe if I have enough good writing days in a row, I can keep posting a chapter everyday! I wish I could. I really enjoy reading your comments laney and Naril. xD Makes me so happy. Naril, your comment made me realize that I didn't have Reno kicking a lot of arse. =P So I made a note to myself to do that. Laney, I hope there will be several more chapters to this story and I hope that they will all be just as good as these. (assuming of course you guys really think these are that good) I hope to get a lot of writing done in the next couple of days because, while I had a bunch of ideas, I didn't have them organized at all. But this morning I figured out some kind of order and now at least I know when I want everything to happen. =) So before this author's note turns out longer than the chapter, I just want to say thanks for reviewing! _

_Reno: Yes, thank you for reviewing because if you didn't she would stop writing and then we would never know my fate! *sighs dramatically* _

_Authoress: Yes, we would never know what would happen to you...*grins sadistically* and I have LOTS in store for you, my pretty! *evil laugh* MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ok, I'm done with that. I try to mix the good things with the bad things though, so whatever. Alright I'm just blabbing now. Go ahead and read. =P_

_Disclaimer: I don't own these people. xD_

Elena sat at her desk twirling her pen in her fingers as she looked over the paperwork in front of her. Rude was sitting at his desk quietly sipping a cup of coffee and reviewing the information pulled up on the computer screen in front of him. Tseng opened the door and kicked it closed behind him. He had been in a meeting with Heidegger. Now he was speaking to someone on his phone and rubbing his eyes.

"I know you're not fine, Reno," he said, annoyed, "when I asked how you were doing I really just wanted to know if we needed to take you back to the hospital or not. I know you're not feeling good." He was quiet for a moment before turning his back to the other two in the room and saying quickly, "Yeah, um, Rude will come have lunch with you today. Bye." He hung up quickly and turned to head into his office.

Rude was blocking the way, arms folded across his chest. He stood there like a brick wall. The expression on his face was more grim than that of the Angel of Death. Tseng started slightly and nervously fiddled with his suit buttons. Surprisingly, it was Rude who broke the silence.

"I went to check on him last night," he said, so quietly that Elena almost couldn't hear him, "it's your turn today, Tseng. And you know it is." Probably the most the man had ever said at once.

"I'm pretty sure it's your turn, Rude," Tseng replied weakly, meeting Rude's gaze only briefly. Rude simply cocked an eyebrow and continued his unnerving stare. Several seconds later, Tseng cracked.

"Ok, fine! It is my turn, but I have a lot of work to do today so I think you should go instead." The man's voice was desperate and pleading. The men continued arguing, Rude hardly speaking a word but effectively reducing Tseng to begging anyway.

Elena turned away so her two co-workers couldn't see her face and grinned. It had been about two weeks since the incident. After much whining and bad behavior, including several escape attempts, the hospital had agreed to discharge Reno early. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere but his apartment however, and was really supposed to stay in bed for several more days at the very least. His fellow Turks were taking turns checking in on him at mealtimes. He was doing much better, but the wound still hurt him and he had been off the pain meds for quit a few days now. Reno didn't suffer quietly. Any amount of pain or discomfort put him in a terrible mood and he shamelessly took it out on anyone who came near him. He was extremely proficient in the art of making people's lives miserable. Thus, the task of visiting Reno had become more dreaded than providing security for Professor Hojo himself! _Well, maybe not worse, but definitely just as bad,_ Elena thought to herself. Tseng and Rude were still arguing. _Well there's only one thing to do. _

With a sigh, she got up and stepped between the two men.

"Alright you two, cut it out," she said, "I'll go." They both looked at her in surprise. Volunteering? To check on Reno?

"But…," Tseng mumbled, "it's not your turn until….ok, go ahead." He quickly slipped past Rude and locked himself in his office. Elena watched him go and then turned to Rude. He stood, shocked, for a second more and then went back to his desk quietly and didn't say another word. With a shake of her head, Elena straightened up her desk and headed out the door. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a quiet 'thank you' as she left.

Minutes after Elena had left, Tseng poked his head out of his office.

"Is she gone?" he almost whispered. Rude nodded. With a quiet sigh of relief, Tseng stepped out from behind the door and sat in Elena's abandoned chair.

"Why did she do that, I wonder?" he mused, "She couldn't have _wanted_ to go check on him…could she?" He picked invisible lint from his suit.

"She still feels responsible for the whole accident," Rude said, never taking his eyes from the computer screen, "She hasn't forgiven herself so she feels it's her obligation."

Tseng thought about this new information. _He's right. Maybe he sees so much because he's never too busy talking to notice what everyone else misses. _Tseng watched his fellow Turk curiously for a moment before getting up and walking back to his office. _Better get some work done before Elena gets back._

Elena was standing outside Reno's door, enjoying her last few moments of peace before knocking. She already had a headache. At least she had something to hopefully cheer him up a little. The warm pizza box in her hand was giving off an incredible scent. At first she had insisted he eat healthy food. After all, he was recovering. She'd given up almost at once though. It was just easier to let him eat what he wanted. She had drawn the line with the beer however, and only allowed him one a day. He'd argued about it at first, but she'd threatened to not allow it at all. She hadn't heard another word about it since.

Mentally steeling herself, Elena knocked on the door. _It's the least I can do after what happened._ She heard a muttered curse and then a yell,

"What?!"

"It's me. I brought you lunch," she replied, trying to sound cheerful. A heavy sigh, shuffling, and then the door was jerked open. Reno didn't say a word. He left her to close the door behind herself, and headed back to the couch.

"Uh, Reno…" Elena said, pressing the door closed, "Maybe you should put some pants on." The red-haired Turk was already settled back on the couch wearing nothing but a pair of bright red boxers. He glared at her.

"Don't wanna." That was all the answer she got. What was she supposed to do now?

"Please?" she stared awkwardly at the pizza box in her hand.

"Fine," he muttered, so grumpily she could barely understand him, "if it bothers you _that_ much." He heaved a massive sigh and looked around, spotting a pair of black sweatpants thrown under a chair. As slowly as he could, he reached over and grabbed them, pulling them on as if they would bite.

"Happy now?" He flopped back down on the couch and glared at the TV. Elena ignored his comment, just glad he'd put pants on. Maybe she could talk him into a shirt later. She walked over and placed the pizza box on the small table in front of the couch before sitting on the opposite end, as far from Reno as she could get. He'd already tried kicking her for 'taking up his space'.

He reached forward and flipped the pizza box open, pulling a slice out. Elena watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye. After the piece of pizza, he looked slightly less grumpy.

"Let me see how it's healing," she said coaxingly, gesturing towards his stomach. He wrapped his arms around his stomach tightly for a second, before sighing.

"Might as well get it over with," he grumbled, "Just don't poke around too much. I think Rude deliberately tried to hurt me the other day." Reno hated letting them check on his still healing wound. It already ached constantly and it didn't help having people messing with it.

He moved his arms as Elena kneeled on the floor in front of him. She examined the wound as gently as she could. Her fingers were cold and he noticed her hands were shaking ever so slightly. A small scowl formed on his face, quickly replaced with a huge grin as he noticed her bright red ears, and how she stared so hard at her hands. He quickly composed his face, laughing internally. _This experience is making her quite nervous._ Reno decided to have a little fun at her expense. His face betraying nothing, he shifted himself just so. Hard muscles rippled all over his abs and chest.

He immediately winced and laid his head back on the couch. Sharp pains caused by the deliberate movement slowly ebbed away. _Shit, not a good idea, _he thought to himself once the pain was mostly gone. He picked his head up again, glancing back at Elena. _Scrap that, awesome idea! _He smirked smugly, thoroughly enjoying the look on her face. She was completely red now, furiously examining his wound. If it was possible, Reno was certain she was staring at one single atom of one of her hands. Her whole body was tense as she quickly got up and, without a word, sat back down on the couch. She seemed utterly enthralled by the stupid game show that was playing, but he knew better. Still laughing silently, he gave her his most innocent look and held the pizza box out to her.

"Pizza?" She looked at him briefly with wide eyes, before simply nodding and grabbing a slice.

"So," he asked casually, placing the box back on the table after taking a second slice, "will I live?" His usual good-humor was restored for the moment.

"Yeah, you're fine."

_Fine, am I? _Reno continued smirking and eating pizza. He could imagine just how much Rude was disapprove of his behavior. _Speaking of Rude…_

"Didn't Tseng say Rude was coming today?" he asked. Elena seemed to have relaxed again.

"Uh, yeah I guess he did," she replied, "but they started arguing about it, and so I said I would come instead. You aren't exactly being pleasant, you know." She shot him a reproachful look.

"So if I'm such a bitch then why did you offer to come? I can't imagine Rude and Tseng argued so violently that it was the only way you could stop them."

"Well no, but…it's my fault you're in this situation at all, so it's the least I can do," she replied quietly, fidgeting with her fingers. Reno groaned.

"I thought I told you it wasn't your fault. Multiple times. Tseng and Rude tried to tell you that too."

Elena shrugged.

"I guess I just don't really believe it."

"So you feel like you owe me something, because you inadvertently did something terrible to me?" He had an idea.

"Well, yeah. That's it exactly," she said. Reno smiled. _Good._ It was going to work. Ignoring the pain in his side, he slid over to Elena quickly and placed a hand under her chin. He lifted her head up and held it against the back of the couch. Hovering over her, he bent down and pressed his mouth firmly to hers. He kept her like that for a few seconds before retreating quickly to his side of the couch. It happened so fast, Elena hadn't gathered her wits about her until he was already out of reach. She was completely shocked speechless, just staring at Reno. He smiled at her pleasantly.

"There, now we are even. You got me shot, and I took advantage of you. In fact, I probably owe _you_ now. See, you got me shot accidentally, but I kissed you on purpose." He looked very pleased with himself. Elena couldn't decide if she should be mad, happy, or agree with him. Finally she smiled too and stretched out a hand.

"Ok, you win."

His smile grew bigger.

"Even?" He reached out and took her hand.

"Even." After shaking her hand a bit more energetically than was really necessary, Reno pulled her a bit closer. His good mood was now permanent, and they finished off the rest of the pizza while watching TV. Elena was so busy arguing about what to watch that she forgot she was supposed to go back to work.

Rude glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time in the past five minutes. Elena should have been back an hour ago. He got up and glanced down the hall once more. At the sound, Tseng stepped out of his office.

"She's still not back yet?" he asked. Rude just shook his head.

"Oh well," Tseng shrugged, "she probably had to go home to rest and recover. Reno has that effect on people." Rude nodded.

"I'll check on him tonight," he offered. Tseng gave him a grateful look and retreated to his office.

Several hours later, Rude silently organized his desk and turned off his computer. He was heading down the hall when Tseng called out to him.

"Hey, Rude! Catch." Rude reflexively caught the small bottle Tseng threw to him. Aspirin. Rude smiled grimly and nodded his thanks before continuing to the elevator. Not too much later he was dragging his feet up the stairs to Reno's sixth-floor apartment. The elevator was out apparently. _Like this wasn't bad enough,_ he thought to himself. He rapped loudly on Reno's door. Not a sound. He knocked again, still getting no response. A small frown appeared on his face. It took him about five seconds to pick the cheap lock. Who was going to break into a Turk's apartment? The door swung open and Rude quickly surveyed the room.

He stared in surprise for a minute before pulling out his cell and calling Tseng.

"You'd better come see this," was all he said, hanging up before the other man had a chance to reply. Rude closed the door and sat down in a chair after sweeping the pile of clothes and papers to the floor.

Reno stared sulkily at the TV. Elena had put up with whatever he had felt like watching for hours, but had finally decided it was her turn to pick what to watch. After complaining about the lack of decent shows to watch in the afternoon, she had settled for a cooking show. When Reno had protested loudly she had told him that not everybody lived off of take-out. Now she was quietly watching, pointedly ignoring the exaggerated sighs and loud movements. Reno's 'annoyed' performance was not working. Not like it ever really did. But it still entertained him. He stifled a yawn. He didn't have his full energy back yet and all his earlier antics had worn him out. His eyelids began to droop and before long he drifted off to sleep.

Elena looked down in surprise when something touched her shoulder. Reno was leaned up against her. _He must have fallen asleep. He looks exhausted. _His tired face grabbed her sympathy. She pulled a blanket off the floor and tossed it gently over him before turning back to the cooking show she'd been watching. _Can't blame him for knocking out, _she thought to herself ruefully, _this _is_ hellishly boring. _She turned the volume down so it wouldn't wake him. She yawned. She still hadn't caught up on her sleep since the nightmares had stopped. It was quiet, the sounds from the TV so faint she could easily hear Reno's soft and rhythmic breathing as he slept. The sound was hypnotic and before she knew it, Elena had nodded off to sleep as well, her head resting on Reno's.

"That's just how I found them," Rude said to Tseng, who was staring at the two sleeping Turks.

"Did she drug him?" Tseng asked when he found his voice again. Rude shrugged.

"Well, what should we do with them?" Tseng never got an answer. Elena had begun to stir. She yawned and attempted to stretch her arms. One was pinned down by Reno. She opened her eyes and looked at her red-haired co-worker, the confusion slowly fading from her face.

A small sound from Rude made her whip her head around and she uttered a small cry at the sight of the two men standing there watching her and Reno.

"Reno wasn't being such a bitch today, I take it," Tseng said calmly, amused by the look on Elena's face.

"No, uh, yes, we were just watching TV and he fell asleep and I guess I sort of dozed off too," she stammered, scrambling to get up and straighten her suit. Without the support of her shoulder, Reno's head banged down on the sofa.

"What the…" he began to say, but stopped when he saw Tseng and Rude.

"Well, guess you caught us," he said teasingly with a mischievous grin. Elena turned to glare at him.

"Will you behave for once!"

Tseng could see a fight coming. In the interest of maintaining peace, he stepped between the two of them.

"Come on, Elena," he said soothingly, "You've spent your fair share of time looking after our cheery friend here." He shot a sarcastic look at Reno as he steered Elena out of the room.

Rude settled back into his chair. He had noticed something different about Elena.

"So how did you convince her it wasn't her fault?" he asked Reno. He had a bad feeling about the huge smile Reno gave him.

"I didn't convince her of anything," he said innocently, "I just got even." Rude decided not to ask how. They tried not to pay too much attention to Reno's pranks.

_Author's Note: *sweatdrop* So Naril, I know you said you wanted Reno to wake up soon, but uh...you may have noticed that you didn't actually get to see him wake up. *fiddles fingers nervously* I hope this chapter was good enough to make up for it. I just LOVE Reno. I laughed so hard when I was writing this. Poor Elena. She's so tortured. =P lol I'll make it up to her eventually. =P _

_Also, laney. *smiles hugely* Since you were my first reviewer, and since (so far!) you've always been the first to review each chapter, I decided to give you a special surprise. xD I can't tell you what it is, because then it wouldn't be a surprise would it? I'll let you know what chapter it's in though. Whenever I get far enough to post it....So it might be a couple of days (if I have good writing days) but I'll make sure to mention what chapter it's in so you can look out for it. It's good. =P At least I think so. So how's that for suspense??? xD_

_Reno: Am I involved in this special surprise? *glares suspiciously* Because I don't remember you asking my permission for anything..._

_Authoress: *sweatdrop* Um...uh...you might be involved....maybe just a little....*nervous laugh* but hey...it's a story ABOUT you. When are you NOT going to be involved???_

_Reno: Good point...And I love being the center of attention! So ok, whatever. Oh! Remember to review guys. Or I'll send my minions (Tseng and Rude) after you! _

_Tseng: You have no control over us._

_Rude: ..._

_Authoress: *shoves characters into closet* Ok guys! I have to get back to my life now! And nobody wants to read a huge author's note anyway! So...bye!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Ok, I was going to post this yesterday, but fanfiction was being retarded and it didn't work. So I'm posting today. =) Those of you who are enjoying this story and wish to see it go on for quite some time, you'll be glad to hear that I'm getting on a roll which means I should be able to write several pages a day! Those of you who are just waiting for it to end, tough luck because I fully intend to make this SEVERAL chapters longer. _

_Thanks to everyone who posts reviews, especially those who post regularly (laney and naril) you guys make my day. =P Naril, sorry for the lack of ass-kicking, I'm sad to say there probably won't be any of that for quite a few chapters actually. *sweatdrop* You see, what I post is actually stuff I've written days ago. I don't post it at once in case I need to go back and change something. That way I have several days to think about what I wrote and make sure it's good before I post it. So yeah...but I probably will get to the ass-kicking in what I write tonight. So it will come hopefully within the next week. _

_Laney, you're surprise is coming. =) Just not in this chapter. Probably in the next, or the one after. I'll make sure to mention it so you'll know to look for it. xD I hope you like it. I love it so much it makes me laugh everytime I think about it. lol See? =) _

_So just enjoy._

_Reno: She doesn't own any of the people in here. _

Elena woke up without an alarm clock screaming at her for once. She smiled peacefully and stretched her arms above her head before slipping out of bed. It had now been several weeks since the accident with Reno and he was back at work now. That meant Elena finally got the day off Tseng had been promising her. She had started by sleeping in. Now to cook and eat a nice hot breakfast.

Still wearing the short shorts and tank-top that she always slept in, she headed toward the kitchen. She used to wear sweatpants when she slept, but they always got twisted around her legs, so she cut them very short. Problem solved. She stopped by her sound system to start her favorite mix of happy love songs playing. When Elena got to sleep in, she woke up in love with the world. She danced and spun her way around the small kitchen in her neat apartment, making breakfast. She hummed along with the music as she set her bacon and eggs down on the table. Sliding over to the fridge, she started to sing along as she grabbed the orange juice carton. With an exaggerated twirl, she closed the fridge and turned to head back to the table, belting out the song with the song artist. Her crescendo ended in a shriek as she stopped and stared in horror at the sight in front of her. The orange juice carton fell to the floor and broke, spilling sticky orange liquid everywhere.

When Reno got to work that morning, there was a memo waiting for him on his desk.

_Come see me when you get this._

_-Tseng_

_Simple enough_. Reno ambled into Tseng's office, and settled in a chair. He kicked his feet up on Tseng's desk, waiting for the man to notice him. Tseng looked up from the mountain of paperwork in front of him.

"The President wants to see all four of us. I'm not sure what he wants," Tseng glared at Reno's feet the whole time he spoke, "but you're going to have to go get Elena. Her cell is off and Rude and I are too busy doing work to go." He turned his attention back to his work without another word.

"The President?" Reno asked, surprised, "Must be important." Their missions usually came from Heidegger. The President had never wanted to speak to them personally. Tseng wasn't showing any sign of having heard him, so Reno left him to his work. He headed out of the Shinra building much more quickly than he had entered. The situation was making him very curious.

He was at Elena's apartment and knocking on her door with a speed that he rarely used except on missions. The music coming from inside was too loud for him to hear anything else. _Probably too loud for her to hear me too._ With an annoyed sigh, he knelt down and picked her lock without a second thought. In moments he was closing the door behind him, looking around at Elena's spotless apartment. _Ah ha! _He had seen her out of the corner of his eye in the kitchen. She was dancing around in her pajamas cooking breakfast.

Reno grinned and moved closer to watch, not trying to hide but not trying to be seen either. The short shorts and tank-top were very different from the suit she was usually wearing when he saw her. She seemed less serious, more care-free. He was thoroughly enjoying her performance as she danced to the fridge, starting to sing now. She twirled away from the fridge with a carton of orange juice in her hand. What had been the climax of the song turned into a scream as she saw him leaning against the doorframe. The orange juice fell from her hand and splattered all over the floor.

"Reno, what are you doing here?!" she yelled at him, looking down at the quickly spreading puddle of juice she was standing in.

"Oh, you know, just watching the show," he smiled teasingly, "By the way, your lock is incredibly easy to pick. You might want to look into getting a better one." Elena was grabbing towels frantically trying to clean some of the floor. Reno reached over to the table with one long arm and carefully picked up one of the slices of bacon. He looked at Elena. She hadn't noticed.

"Very funny, Reno, now seriously, why are you here? I'm supposed to be having a relaxing day off, and now there's a whole carton of orange juice all over my floor."

"Sorry," Reno said, without an ounce of sincerity, "I'll get you another one someday." He slowly pulled his arm back and bit off half of the bacon. It was warm, it was crunchy, it was heaven. Watching Elena the whole time, he quietly grabbed another slice of bacon. She was busily cleaning her floor. He had stopped watching her by the third piece of bacon.

"Really, Reno?" She sounded annoyed, "You break into my apartment _still_ with no explanation, you make me drop a perfectly good bottle of orange juice which is now all over me and my floor, and now you steal my bacon?" She was kneeling on the floor, hands on her hips, frowning at him. He just grinned.

"It was getting cold, and I don't think you'll be eating it anytime soon. I was just trying to keep it from going to waste. I can't remember the last time I had bacon, Elena."

Elena just shook her head and went back to cleaning the floors. _He probably hasn't eaten anything that didn't come out of a cardboard box in years. _She let him eat the bacon. She could always make more later.

"So are you going to tell me why you're here?" Most of the orange juice was soaked up. Instead of orange juice all over her floor, there were orange juice soaked towels all over her floor.

"Oh yeah, Tseng sent me to get you. Apparently the President wants to see us all. Didn't say why." Elena forgot to wipe at the juice. She looked up at him, astonished.

"Really? Well, uh, I'd better come then," she stared at the pile of orange towels, "You can clean this up while I get ready."

"Yeah, I don't think you should go to see the President wearing that," Reno said, looking her up and down. Elena turned slightly red and crossed her arms over her chest, quickly going into her bedroom and slamming the door. Reno laughed to himself as he cleaned up the mess.

Thirty minutes later all four Turks were on their way to the President's office on the top floor. All were neatly dressed in their suits, except for Reno who wore his shirt un-tucked. He also left his jacket un-zipped, the top few buttons on his shirt un-buttoned and wore no tie. He looked a mess next to Tseng, whose suit was always immaculate.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open without a sound. Rufus was waiting for them, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his white trench coat.

"My father is in his office," he sounded bored, "Just follow me." He turned to lead the way and caught sight of Elena. His attitude quickly changed and he turned all charm.

"I didn't know you employed ladies, Tseng," he said, with a beautiful smile and a slight bow for Elena. She looked a bit flustered and was clearly struggling for words. Rufus moved to take her hand, but Reno knocked it away.

"Oh knock it off, Rufus," the red-head sounded more annoyed than usual, "She's not going to fall for your Prince Charming act."

"Very well then," Rufus glared at Reno, but shoved his hands back in his pockets and continued to bring the Turks to the President's office.

"If you pay any attention to him," Reno muttered to Elena so no one else could hear, "he'll have you sipping champagne in his bed before you realize what's happening." Elena turned bright red and didn't say a word. Reno gave her a knowing look as they passed the President's secretary's desk. The woman sitting at the desk was beautiful and dressed a bit more risqué than most offices allowed. Rufus gave her a wink with his 'Prince Charming' smile and blew her a kiss. The woman blushed and blew one back, without so much as a glance for the Turks who accompanied Rufus. Perched on her desk was a vase filled with more red roses than Elena had ever seen in her life. A card was attached to it that read 'Rufus' in a large curly script.

The Turks were ushered into an office bigger than Elena's apartment. It was the nicest looking place any of them had ever seen. Exotic plants were placed all over the room, along with countless bookshelves. Priceless works of art decorated the walls along with many maps of the world, including detailed maps of Midgar. A wall of windows covered the far wall, and in front of it was the President's huge desk.

"Please, sit down," the head of Shinra motioned to several chairs, "My time is extremely valuable so I'm going to make this quick. You've all done an excellent job throughout your careers, and for that I'm grateful. I've decided to express that gratitude, especially because of the recent incident where, I understand, one of you was injured." The man didn't bother to ask which one of them it had been who was responsible for saving his life. He barely looked up at them in fact. He continued reviewing the papers in front of him as he spoke.

"To show my appreciation, I've arranged for you all to take a vacation. You leave tomorrow to spend two weeks in my personal ski lodge. Rufus will give you the details. Now I have a very important meeting, so…" The dismissal was clear.

"Thank you sir," Tseng, as the leader, spoke for all of them. They left the room quickly. Rufus was waiting for them outside his father's office, leaning over the edge of the secretary's desk. They were much too close to be having a business conversation. The woman started and quickly moved away from Rufus when the Turks appeared, but Rufus simply looked up calmly.

"Ah, I see my father was brief," he straightened up and picked up a sheet of paper from the desk, "This has all the information you'll need. Enjoy yourselves because when you get back he'll probably work you to death to make up for the time you were gone. Although maybe I shouldn't use that figure of speech…." he thought about this for a moment, "Well anyway, that's all." Rufus turned back to the secretary.

Going back down the elevator, Tseng examined the sheet Rufus had given them.

"There'll be a helicopter ready for us to take tomorrow morning. He's got a nice place. I hear the snowfall has been especially good this year. Should be a restful vacation," Tseng sounded more relaxed already. Rude didn't say anything, which wasn't surprising.

"I wonder how well he stocks his mini-bar," Reno wondered. Elena rolled her eyes at him.

"I love the snow. Everything looks so beautiful covered in snow," so her day off had been ruined, but now she got two weeks off in a beautiful ski lodge. Overall, worth the mess this morning had been.

The next morning the Turks met at the helipad as agreed. Tseng and Elena were there first, shortly followed by Rude. Reno was half an hour late. He offered no excuse and they didn't bother asking. Reno was always late, it was an accepted fact. They wasted no time getting up in the air and on their way. Tseng let Reno fly on the condition that he didn't try any tricks. Reno didn't argue, he was in a good mood.

Elena stared out the window the whole time. She loved to fly, and the sea was so pretty in the morning sunlight. Tseng had fallen asleep and Rude was sitting across from Elena.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked. She was so used to him not speaking it still surprised her a little when he did.

"I love flying. It's amazing seeing the world from up high." The helicopter banked suddenly, almost on it's side. They dropped quickly toward the ocean below, stopping only when the waves were whipped up by the blades. The helicopter continued to fly low over the ocean for a few moments before pulling back up.

"It's nice up close too," Reno said, his hands resting with ease on the controls.

"That was cool." the light had danced off the small waves created by the helicopter's beating blades.

"You like snow, right, Elena?" the red-head asked casually.

"I love it."

"Then you'd better come look because there's a whole lot of it up ahead." Elena jumped up and rushed to sit in the co-pilot's chair, gazing at the vast expanse of white coming quickly toward them.

"It's beautiful!" Elena breathed, staring like it was going somewhere. Reno grinned at her. She looked like a little kid on Christmas. Hands clasped, eyes wide, big smile.

About forty-five minutes later, Reno landed gently on the helipad behind the President's ski lodge. The whole thing retracted underground to protect it from the snow and occasional winter storms.

"Sweet," was all Reno said as they climbed out of the helicopter underground and piled into the silver elevator that took them up to the front hall of the lodge. Rude whistled. Elena stared. Even Tseng seemed a little awed. Reno walked forward to stand in the middle of the large room, nodding and spinning in a slow circle to see the whole thing.

"Not a bad place after all," he said, "Let me see that paper, Tseng. Rufus said the bedrooms were marked on the back. We can leave our stuff and go exploring." Tseng wordlessly handed over the paper and Reno walked off, up the staircase in front of them. They didn't have much luggage, being used to packing light, but no body wanted to carry it around. They found the four bedrooms without a problem.

"Well, the place is definitely spacious," Reno commented, "Elena won't have to bunk with Tseng after all."

"Reno!" Elena swung her bag at him, but he was ready and ducked out of the way. The force she had lashed out with swung her against the wall with a bang. She glared at him.

"Reno, try to behave please," Tseng said calmly. Rude and he were used to Reno's comments by now. The rooms were like those of a nice hotel. Elena quickly forgot her annoyance as she dropped her bag on the floor and collapsed on the bed.

"I'm in heaven," she sighed dreamily, turning to look out the huge window at the white expanse. She bounced a little as something landed on the bed next to her.

"_Now_ you're in heaven," Reno's voice was quiet and teasing in her ear. She grabbed a huge fluffy pillow and sat up to beat him with it. He threw his arms around his head and danced away from her. She threw it at him and reached for another, getting up to chase him out into the hall. Reno ran straight into Rude, who grabbed the smaller man and held him tightly. Rude nodded to Elena with a small smile. Reno paled at the evil grin that spread on Elena's face.

"Uh, guys, can we talk about this maybe?" he asked nervously, struggling to get away from Rude. The only answer he got was a pillow in the face. Elena laughed viciously as she beat him repeatedly. Reno screamed in fake anguish. Even Rude was chuckling lightly.

"Elena!" Tseng's voice was sharp. Everyone was quiet immediately and Elena paused with her pillow in the air above Reno's head. Tseng was standing outside his door, hands behind his back, a look of complete disapproval on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me you had Reno captured?" Elena's smile returned and Rude tightened his grip as Reno started screaming again. Tseng revealed the pillow he'd been holding behind his back and ran at his red-haired co-worker. _At least it's just pillows,_ Reno thought. Still, being beaten was being beaten and he wasn't going to sit around and take it. Using Rude's arms to support him, Reno pulled both legs into the air and kicked Tseng in the chest. The man staggered back into Elena and both of them fell to the ground.

Reno twisted away from Rude quickly and took off sprinting down the hall.

"Get him!" shrieked Elena, and the other Turks ran after him. Reno paused at the top of the stairs long enough to stick out his tongue at his pursuers before sliding down the banister. He dashed through the nearest door. The other three were right behind him. A couple doors later, and they found themselves in a massive stainless steel kitchen. Reno had stopped running.

"I'm hungry," he said loudly, "can we stop?" The other three looked at each other. Finally Elena spoke up.

"If you acknowledge us as the victors, we can stop." Reno considered this for a moment.

"Whatever, you win," he shrugged, "but only because I wanted to stop. Now let's get something to eat." Reno headed to the fully stocked fridge, but Elena stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I think I should be in charge of cooking," she said, shoving the pillows at him, "You can put these back where they go." Reno took them with a grin and ran off. He was back in time to watch Elena toasting sandwiches for them all.

"I could have done that," Reno scoffed. Rude and Tseng gave him a doubtful look. Elena downright ignored him. After they had eaten, they walked through every inch of the big house. It was definitely worthy of the head of the biggest power in the world. Reno found the mini-bar and was delighted to find it was, indeed, well stocked. Rude found a shooting range, and Elena discovered a room full of skis and snow-boards.

"I used to go skiing when I was younger but I haven't been in years. This is going to be so fun!" She jumped from one item to the next, blabbing endlessly to Tseng.

"Shit! Guys you _have_ to come see this!" Reno's shout was coming from a room down the hall. They ran into the room to find Reno staring in awe at one wall of the room. His hands were on his head, buried in his blood red hair.

"It's _awesome_," he was so excited his voice was quiet now. A massive TV screen covered one wall, and theater style chairs were arranged in front of it. Shelves of movies lined the other walls.

"I'm so having a movie marathon," he breathed. He probably would have started right then if Elena hadn't insisted they go skiing first. They bundled up against the cold and spent several hours on the slopes around the lodge. Tseng, Elena, and Rude used skis, but Reno preferred a snow-board.

"I'd just tangle my legs up," he'd explained.

_Author's Note: Ok, I personally think this chapter might be a little boring, but you're always your own worst critic so it might not be that bad actually. Thanks for reading, I hope to post more soon, post reviews blah blah blah. You know the drill. =P _

_Reno: Post reviews or I will never appear in this fanfiction again. _

_Authoress: *gasp* That's the worst threat I've ever heard! _

_Reno: Yes. Why yes it is. SO POST!_

_xD_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Ok, sorry for not posting last night. I was trying to go to bed early because I had to get up early this morning but we all know how that goes. T_T Whenever I try to go to bed early, I end up staying up like 5 hours later than I would have otherwise, sadly I'd already turned off my computer and I was too lazy to turn it back on. =P Also, I'm almost caught up to myself. I've explained how I like to keep "buffer" space, but I just want to post it so badly I can't help myself. So yeah...Well enjoy this chapter. Thanks to everyone for reviewing, I really appreciate it. _

_Laney! Guess what??? Your special surprise is in this chapter! You'll know it when you see it. *smug smile* Make sure to tell me what you think about it, k? I happen to think it's like the best thing in the world, but then again I think that about anything involving Reno in any way at all. =P So enjoy it. _

_Thanks again to everyone else for posting, I hope you're enjoying the story. I know I'm enjoying writing it. =P _

_Disclaimer: I don't own these people. So whatever...._

_ENJOY! Or else....=P_

Later that night Reno, Elena, and Rude were settled in front of the TV watching movies. Elena had made hot chocolate. However, she'd made the mistake of turning her back on it for two seconds and Reno had added a 'special ingredient'. No one but Reno knew how full the vodka bottle had been to before he'd added some, but now it was half empty. She had pestered him to tell her how much was in it before drinking it, but he wouldn't give in.

"Just drink it, it's good for you," he said, exasperatedly, "Now be quiet, I'm trying to watch a movie." Tseng had already gone to sleep and Rude looked like he was drifting off too. They'd been out in the snow all afternoon. Elena sighed and hesitantly took a tiny sip of the hot chocolate. _Definitely got a kick to it, but not too bad._ She shrugged and drank more, curling up in the blanket she was wrapped in.

"See? Makes it way better," Reno grinned at her and tugged a strand of her hair gently. An hour and three cups of hot chocolate later, Elena watched the credits roll without really seeing them. She was very tired and the alcohol was making her mind even more fuzzy. She felt Reno get up from where he'd been sitting, right next to her.

"Time for bed," he nudged her with his foot.

"Mhm," she stood up and swayed a little. She probably would have fallen back into her chair, except a strong arm caught her.

"Whoa, careful," Reno laughed softly, "You don't drink much do you?" She shook her head and steadied herself against him.

"I'm so sleepy," she yawned, "just point me in the direction of my room."

"No way, you'll probably break your neck on the stairs," Elena felt her feet leave the floor as Reno suddenly scooped her up, an arm under her knees and an arm around her back, "I'm going to make sure you get to your room all in one piece." He started carrying her off towards their rooms. He walked so smoothly she was barely jostled. The slight rhythm was relaxing. Her eyelids drifted closed and she laid her head against his chest. She could feel and hear Reno's heart beating against her cheek.

Reno carried Elena up the stairs. She seemed so small when she was curled up in his arms. He looked down at her. She appeared to be sleeping already, but one of her slender fingers was stroking the collar of his shirt. Her face was completely relaxed, no small frown or worried look. _I wish she'd always look like this._ He sighed and quietly kicked Elena's door open. He pulled the blankets back and gently laid her down on the bed. She muttered something inaudible, her hand sliding reluctantly off his chest and falling limply beside her.

Reno stood staring down at her face. The peaceful look would be gone in the morning. She was enjoying herself here, but the worried look was still there even though it was buried deeper than usual. He wanted to see this relaxed face for as long as he could. _I should stay._ He pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come. Even if he just watched her sleep all night, Elena would never trust him again. He'd seen the disapproving looks she'd given people she despised. Reno carefully pulled the blankets around her, making sure she was protected from the cold. _I don't think I could live if she gave me one of those looks. _He bent closer to her face, hesitated, and picked up one of her hands. He pressed his lips softly to her fingers before leaving the room without looking back.

"Take that!" Reno hurled a snowball at Tseng before diving for cover behind a snow drift. Rude had called them outside after breakfast. He hadn't said a word, just smashed a handful of snow into Reno's face and took off running. All hell had broken loose. Now Tseng was laughing as he unleashed a barrage of snow balls at Rude who had been unlucky enough to get caught in the open. Elena took advantage of the distraction to run towards the lodge.

"No you don't," Reno said under his breath and sprinted after her. The snow silenced his footsteps and, with his longer legs, soon caught up to Elena. He threw himself at her feet, knocking her to the ground.

"Trying to escape were you?" He laughed evilly, "Well you'll regret it." Reno held her down in the snow. He carefully scooped up a huge handful of snow and grabbed her collar.

"Oh, Reno, you wouldn't," Elena could just barely see him, face down in the snow as she was, "Reno…" Her warning turned into a shriek as Reno shoved the handful of snow down the back of her shirt. He jumped up and ran as Rude took aim with a massive snow ball. Elena leapt off the ground and jumped around shrieking about the melting snow on her back.

Tseng silently came up behind Rude and said something to the man so quietly Reno couldn't hear it. Rude smiled and nodded.

"Hey! What's going on?" Reno demanded, standing several feet away from everyone, poised to dodge if someone threw a snowball, "I thought we weren't having teams!"

"Even enemies can work together for a common good," Tseng said calmly, slowly walking around to stand on Reno's other side. Elena watched uneasily as the three men watched each other carefully. Suddenly, Tseng threw a snowball at Reno so fast the red-haired man barely had time to dodge it. The sudden movement threw him slightly off balance. He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. Rude had moved in at once and tackled Reno to the ground. Tseng dove at them both and helped hold Reno down.

Several seconds later, they had their friend immobilized. He glared up at Rude and Tseng.

"Well, what now?" His voice was defiant. Tseng smiled cheerfully.

"Elena, would you please come here?" he asked pleasantly. A smile slowly spread on her face as she approached her three partners. She knelt in the snow by Reno's head. He shot a glare at her. She just smiled hugely.

"Would you be interested in a little revenge?" Tseng tightened his grip on Reno as the man struggled to escape.

"Why, yes. I would. How kind of you to offer," Elena's voice was sarcastically formal. She scooped up a handful of snow and grinned evilly.

"You sick people," his exaggerated disgust only made Elena smile wider. Her only response was to dump the snow in her hand onto his face. He spluttered and shook his head roughly to get rid of the snow.

The next several minutes were spent throwing piles of snow on Reno. Multiple handfuls were carefully shoved down his shirt. Before long, Rude, Tseng, and Elena were cracking up with laughter. Reno screamed curses at them for every flake of snow that touched him.

"Dammit, I'm _cold_!" He managed to wrench an arm free from Tseng, and threw a punch at Rude, distracted the man enough for Reno to break free and sprint towards the huge lodge porch.

"Losers! Can't even keep hold of one man," he yelled over his shoulder before slamming the door behind him. The other three sat laughing in the snow for a few moments more before following Reno inside. They found him in the kitchen, jacket laid over the back of a chair, squeezing water out of his shirt over the sink. Throwing the damp shirt on the table to dry, he wrapped up in a blanket. He didn't say a word to any of them, but gave them and endless amount of glaring. A small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth however, and his eyes were twinkling. _At least he's not a sore loser,_ Elena thought, giggling at the memory of Reno almost buried in snow.

"Give me the popcorn!" Reno was leaning across both Tseng and Elena's laps, reaching for the bowl of popcorn Rude was holding just out of his reach.

"You've already had more than half the bowl," Rude pulled the bowl farther away as Reno stretched a little farther. Tseng continued watching the movie, calmly ignoring the red-headed Turk who was leaning across him. Elena had been sitting between Reno and Tseng but now she was sitting next to Tseng and Reno was stretched over her lap. Grinning, she slammed her elbows onto the small of his back and rested her chin on her hands.

Reno collapsed with the sudden weight on his back. With a grunt, he turned his head to look at her, still reaching for the popcorn.

"Why'd you do that?" he demanded. Elena pretended to be entranced in the movie and purposely started at his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was so wrapped up in the movie I didn't notice you had decided to sit in my lap." She smiled and blinked innocently, pushing her elbow into his spine.

"Ow!" Reno twisted sharply to throw her elbow off and gave up on the popcorn. He slowly came back to a normal sitting position, still in Elena's lap, taking care to jab Tseng as hard as he could.

"Sorry," he said with a huge smile for the Turk leader. Now he was really sitting in Elena's lap. He grinned and put his arms around her neck, completely blocking her view of the TV. Elena blinked up at him in surprise. Reno didn't do anything but sit there and smile for a minute.

"Santa, I want a motorcycle for Christmas," he said finally, making his face completely serious. Elena laughed. He looked so funny; tall, skinny Reno practically crushing her, a much smaller person. His serious mask didn't even crack.

"Santa, please!" he begged urgently.

"No way," she replied, shoving him off her lap, "only good little boys get presents." Reno had barely hit his seat before he was up again, leaning over her, pressing his hands on the back of her chair and straddling her legs.

"Oh, and I'm a _very _naughty boy, Laney," he whispered seductively, using her nickname. The look on his face matched his words perfectly. Elena froze. One tiny breath gasped in before she stopped breathing. Her heart skipped madly and she felt herself go hot all over. She couldn't move or think. She could only stare into the bright aquamarine eyes looking down at her. He was very close…

"Oh, leave the girl alone," Tseng reprimanded, not even bothering to look away from the movie. Reno grinned devilishly and leaned closer before flopping back into his own chair. Elena tried to start breathing again subtly. It didn't work. When he heard her huge breath whoosh out, Reno laughed. She ignored him and just tried to calm down.

"Hey, Rude, give me the popcorn," he said after a moment's silence. Rude handed him the bowl.

"Dammit it's empty!" Reno glared at the bald man who shrugged.

"I ate it while you lap-danced Elena." Elena could have sworn the heat was radiating off her now. Reno threw the bowl at Rude. He ducked and the bowl clattered against the wall.

"That was _not_ a lap dance," Reno said, "_This _is a lap dance." He reached for Elena, who jumped and almost ran off before she realized he was joking. She slumped down in her chair, covering her face with her hands. _I'm never going to live this down._

_Author's Note: *impossibly huge smug smile* So what did you think, Laney? I never intended to give Elena a nickname but whatever. You were my first reviewer so I think you deserved a special little comment. =P lol I laughed so hard when I wrote that...yup. _

_So yeah. That's my newest chapter. You might have noticed. T_T Well, I'm off to read a little and then write some more so I can post a chapter tomorrow night! Review and keep reading! Thanks so much! _


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Ok, I'm like only a paragraph or two ahead of what I'm posting now. T_T So much for "buffer" space. I just can't resist posting! It's so fun to post your story, and then see what people think. It's just great. So thanks for reviewing, I really look forward to reading everyone's reviews. =P I had a great idea for a future scene today and I was at work so I couldn't even write it down. The first thing I did when I got home was email the idea to myself. There must be at least 15 emails from myself in my inbox with ideas in them. =P I don't like handwritten notes. So yeah. Glad you guys enjoyed that last chapter. =P The fun and games will be over soon. I like a good laugh, but I tend to be a little sadistic soooooo....=P _

_Reno: Yes, she is sadistic. T_T I would know. _

_Authoress: Sorry! *rubs hands together evilly* Not. =P lol ok just read. AND REVIEW! _

By the time the credits were rolling on the last movie they watched that night, Reno was fast asleep. Tseng got up without a word and picked up the popcorn bowl, muttering something about grown men behaving like children. Elena pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She looked at the Reno, curled up asleep in his chair. He looked like he was about to say something horribly offensive even in his sleep.

"Why does he do that?" she asked Rude suddenly. The man looked up at her with a questioning look. Elena turned to look at the bald man.

"Why does he always have that… playboy attitude? He could probably be a really nice guy if he wasn't making perverted comments all the time."

Rude was silent for a minute, staring at the blank screen in front of them. Finally, he spoke.

"He didn't always. I met Reno when he was sixteen. He wasn't such the ladies' man then," Rude spoke softly, seriously, still staring at the blank TV, "Of course, the women always loved him but he didn't get the reputation for sleeping around until later. Reno was in love once." Rude turned to look at Elena now. Without his usual sunglasses, she could see his serious brown eyes. He looked almost sad.

"I don't even know how he met this girl, but to listen to him talk about her you wouldn't think he noticed anything in the world but her. I only met her once or twice. She was pretty, sweet, and she really seemed to be just as in love with him. He adored her. He was about eighteen when I found him dead drunk in a bar one night. It's a good thing I did find him because he was too drunk and upset to see straight. He wouldn't even tell me what was wrong for two days. Turns out she was cheating on him. With who knows how many different people. She laughed when he found out. Told him she'd never cared about him. Apparently he was just an amusing diversion." Rude paused.

"He'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this. I don't think he even knows how much I know about it. Anyway, he'd put his heart in her hands and she crushed it. It took him a long time to recover from that. He's scarred though. That's where his attitude comes from. No one can hurt him if he's sleeping around without really caring about anyone. That's my impression at least. I don't know if he even knows it, but he's too scared to feel strongly about anyone."

Elena didn't say a word when Rude finished talking. She turned to look at Reno, still sleeping in his chair. _I never would have thought…_

"That's…terrible," she whispered, pity welling up in her heart. Rude just nodded. Having spoken more words in the past minute than he normally did in a week, he got up and left the room silently.

"I'm so sorry, Reno," Elena whispered to the sleeping man before carefully throwing a blanket over him and heading off to her room.

Elena critically examined the pile of snow in front of her before carefully reaching out and scratching some off a corner. She examined it again and smiled.

"It's done," she announced. Reno slowly ambled over to see. He stood and looked at it for a minute before bursting into laughter.

"It's Tseng!" He pulled out his cell and snapped a picture of the smaller, snow version of the Turk leader. It was a surprisingly good likeness considering it was made of snow. While they were still laughing, Tseng himself came out the door.

"Hey guys…" his voice drifted off as he frowned at the snow replica, "Is that supposed to be me?" Elena pretended to be hurt.

"Doesn't it look like you? I did my best." Reno was only laughing harder at the look Tseng was giving them and the snowman.

"My nose isn't that big," he finally said, "I was coming to tell you to pack your bags. I just got a call and it turns out they can't spare us for two whole weeks."

"Back to work it is," Elena sighed, brushing the snow of her. Reno was still chuckling at the snowman as he headed towards the building.

"Destroy that thing before you go anywhere, Elena," Tseng glared at his snow-self.

They were flying back to Midgar within half an hour. The city spread before them, a massive lump of gray.

"We can just go home for now," Tseng said as he expertly landed the helicopter, "We don't technically get back to work until tomorrow. Apparently there are some rumors about trouble brewing down below. We'll probably just be doing a bit of spying and then a couple of quiet shots one night and problem solved. Of course, we won't get our official assignments until tomorrow morning but that's my guess. Get some rest, we'll probably be out every night for the next week."

"See ya," Reno called as they parted ways outside the Shinra headquarters. He ambled off towards his apartment with his small bag slung over his shoulder. He turned and walked backwards just long enough to watch Elena disappear around a corner blocks away. He wanted to run after her but he just turned back around and kept walking. After spending several days with the other Turks, he was acutely aware of how alone he was.

"Home sweet home," he muttered, kicking the door closed behind him and tossing his bag off to join the rest of the junk littering the room. Grabbing a beer from the fridge - it was about the only thing he always had in his kitchen - he grabbed the TV remote from on top of the toaster and headed back into the other room. He vaulted over the back of the couch, landing with a bounce, and switched on the TV.

One of the movies they had watched was playing. He grinned, remembering something funny Elena had said about it. A pang of loneliness struck him and his grin faded. _I wish she was here_. He hadn't felt this alone for years. Not since after _her_... but he preferred not to think about that. He quickly brought his mind back to Elena. A small smile grew on his face as he thought about her, remembering the things she'd said this past week, the way she'd looked, the way she'd moved. With a sigh he laid his head back and closed his eyes, recalling the way she'd felt in his arms when he'd carried her up to her bed that night. He wanted to feel that again. He wanted her to be here with him right now and forever. _I love her. _The realization hit him suddenly. It made perfect sense when he thought about it. What he felt for Elena was unlike what he felt for anyone else.

"I love her," Reno said aloud. The knowledge was strangely comforting. A face he hadn't seen in years popped into his head, a cold sneer marring it's beauty. He could hear the words like it was yesterday: _"I never loved you, Reno. All those things I said? Lies. You're so gullible."_ The acid words still stung in his memory. His happy feelings had been devoured by doubt. He remembered the weeks he'd spent in misery, mostly drunken misery. _Can't let that happen again._ _Better to just forget it. _He mentally shoved his recent discovery as far away as he could. A tiny part of him argued that Elena would never hurt him. _I can't risk it, can't go through that again. _

Reno tried desperately to silence the inner turmoil by turning the TV up louder and getting another beer. By the time he went to bed, several empty bottles littered the table. He rolled into bed, grateful his mind was too clouded to think.

_Author's Note: Ok, well isn't this sad. Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as some of the others. This kind of situation is where I struggle. So I'm doing my best! I've never written anything before. OH! I forgot the disclaimer! Oh well, you know by now that I don't own these people. =P Don't forget to review! Thanks so much for reading. xD_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Ok, I had a REALLY good writing day last night. That doesn't make a lot of sense...day...last night....hmmm. Oh well. So anyway, I wrote like three pages. This isn't what I wrote last night. I wrote this a couple days ago...but yeah. I almost cried when I was writing last night. It was depressing. I'll post it tomorrow. But it was SAD!!! Poor Reno! _

_Naril! I've finally got some ass-kicking in here. =P Not something I do a lot, so bear with me. It's the best I could muster up. Hope you like it. _

_To everyone else, thanks for reading/reviewing! The first thing I do every morning is check for reviews. =P I'm such a nerd...lol but come on! Who doesn't love to read reviews?? I'm especially grateful to my regular reviewers, Laney, Naril, and The Sacred and the Profane. I always look for your reviews. So don't stop reviewing or I'll be disappointed. xD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own these people. If I did, well...that would be cool. But I don't. So there._

_Read and enjoy!_

Reno was two hours late. Rude looked up when he finally walked in. The red-head was squinting at the lights and roughly flopped into his chair and proceeded to rub his temples and mutter curses. He hadn't come into work hung-over in weeks, quite a record for Reno. Elena was watching him too, her eyebrows raised slightly. Reno didn't look up at either of them. He just sifted through the pile of papers Tseng had left on his desk. Tseng himself walked into the room moments later.

"Oh, now that we're all here," he started with a pointed look at Reno, "We've got work to do. Rude and Reno, you two are heading down to Sector 5 to check out a rumored meeting place. Elena and I will be looking into some upper class business men suspected of being involved. It's just some fanatical group, large but with little organization. If we take out the leaders, the others will be useless. Report back here by this evening."

Reno was feeling physically better by early afternoon, but he was having a hard time forgetting about Elena. Even though having something to do helped, he was still distracted by worrying about her. _Tseng better not get her in any trouble…_ He knew Tseng would keep her safe. The thought wasn't as comforting as he would have liked. _I want to be the one keeping her safe._ It took immense will power to mentally lock all those feelings away. He shouldn't be letting anything distract him on the job. _You're a Turk. You're one of the best, too good to let emotions get in the way._

By the time they got back to the office, Reno was getting very good at ignoring the images and thoughts that constantly bombarded his mind. He tried to avoid looking at Elena. It would only make it harder.

"It's definitely some sort of a meeting place," Rude told Tseng and Elena, "There was suspicious activity all day. It'd be a good place to stake out."

"Good. I'll want you to watch it tonight then," Tseng said, "We've confirmed several of our suspects as being involved. Elena, tonight you can follow one of those we aren't sure about. Reno and I will handle those we've confirmed so far. Plotting against Shinra won't get you anything but a bullet in the head." He handed a slip of paper to Reno with the information on the targets he was to take out.

"Alright, let's head out. Make sure to let me know whenever you've finished your assignment." The Turks quickly moved out.

Reno checked his gun, threw a handful of extra bullets in his coat pocket, and made sure he had his mag-rod with him. He checked the list Tseng had given him. There were only a few names on the list along with basic descriptions, pictures, and where to find them. _Piece of cake._ He headed off to the nice bar where his first target could most likely be found after hours. Sitting quietly in a corner, he watched the man closely, noting the two burly men with him. He grinned. _Bodyguards. This should be interesting._

Reno slipped out when the man got up to leave. Lurking in the dark shadows of night in Midgar, he silently followed the three men as they walked down the street to a fancy nightclub, popular with the upper class of Midgar. When they were on the darkest, emptiest street before the club, Reno quickened his pace and came up swiftly behind one of the bodyguards. In the space of a second he had the man's neck in an iron grip. His hands moving with the ease of long practice, he snapped the man's neck before he could even shout. Not wasting time to watch the first slump to the ground, Reno had his mag-rod out and, deflecting a punch that would have flattened him, gave the second bodyguard a strong blast of electricity. By this time his real target had let out a yell. Spinning around and pulling out his gun, Reno put a bullet dead-center between his first target's eyes.

Replacing the gun, Reno smiled to himself. Another job well done. He could have shot all three from a safe distance and no one would have had time to make a sound. It didn't matter. He preferred to do it this way. _I'll be long gone by the time anyone gets here._ Reno ran lightly into the nearest alley and was blocks away when the bodies where found, not a clue to hint at the killer. He navigated the confusing alleys expertly, drawing on his extensive knowledge of the layout of the city, above and below the Plate.

He checked off the men on his list one by one, finally down to one.

"Oh, come on," he moaned quietly to himself. The last on the list was the Vice President of one of the largest companies in Midgar, excluding Shinra of course. _No way is he going to be unprotected. _The last target would probably have several of the best bodyguards available. Reno sighed and scowled. _Better get to it then, this one is going to take a bit._

Apparently the man could always be found at a whorehouse in the slums. It wasn't too far from where he was right now. The red-haired Turk jogged swiftly through the dirty streets under the Plate. He was across the street from the building in minutes, concealed in the shadows. One suited man was standing outside the door, too rigid looking to be here on …business of his own. _Easy enough._ Reno stumbled over to the establishment, pretending to be drunk. It wasn't hard when you had experienced it extensively. The man at the door eyed him critically but didn't seem to pay much attention to him. _Your funeral,_ Reno grinned once he was inside.

Still just a stumbling drunk to anyone looking, he surveyed the room. With a practiced eye, Reno sorted through all the men in the room and picked out two who were more than likely backup for the guy at the door. He didn't see his target anywhere. _Must be upstairs._ Reno laughed to himself as a scantily-clad woman rubbed up against him, and led him towards a set of stairs. _Oh good._ He needed to get up there without alerting the bodyguards to a possible threat.

"Sorry, baby," he whispered as he jabbed a needle into the woman's arm just as soon as she had brought him into a room. She collapsed as the mild drug knocked her out. Reno held her up and brought her over to the huge bed, pretty much the only furniture in the room. He put her down and slipped out the door, closing it softly behind him. _Now to find this guy._ Slinking silently about the halls, he eventually found what he was looking for. Four big men were grouped around a particular door, stony faces watching the hall.

Reno stayed out of sight around a corner and planned his next move. He could attempt to create a diversion, but he doubted they'd fall for it. This guy would have good bodyguards. _I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way. _He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath before dashing towards the four men. In an instant all Hell broke loose. Reno landed several hits with both fists and his mag-rod before the initial surprise wore off and the bodyguards started hitting back. He wasn't as strong as Rude, but he was fast and nearly impossible to land a hit on.

The fight didn't last long. Reno straightened his jacket and smirked at the four unconscious men littering the floor. They hadn't stood a chance against a Turk with a surprise advantage. _Wish it'd been a little quieter though. _He was relieving the bodyguards of their guns when the door behind him opened to reveal a rather disheveled man, staring with wide eyes at the scene before him.

"Just who I was looking for," Reno grinned as the man looked at him with terror in his eyes.

"I'm through," Reno was walking home quickly while reporting back to Tseng, "Headed home to sleep late."

"Fine, be ready for another assignment tomorrow night. We should get this issue cleared up soon."

"Hey," something was bothering Reno, "have you heard back from Elena yet?"

"Yeah, she's already home. Why?"

"No reason, just wondering. Well bye." Reno hung up before Tseng could reply. He could rest easy knowing Elena was safely back from her mission.

By the time he got home, he was practically half asleep. He triple-checked his alarm clock to make sure it wouldn't ring. After staring at it for a minute he unplugged it completely. His head had barely hit the pillow before he turned to look at the clock again. His eyes narrowed. He didn't trust it. Flinging the blankets off, Reno grabbed the offending piece of machinery and brought it into the kitchen, burying it in a pile of clothes. He finally went to sleep, satisfied that nothing would wake him up before he was ready.

_Author's Note: =) Did you guys like it? I'm really trying very hard. Writing is new to me, I think I've mentioned that this is my first attempt at writing something that wasn't for school. =P Well I did try to write a book once but that was an epic fail...and was only like 7000 words. This is like almost 20,000. So I think it's far more successful. =P So anyway, thanks for reviewing and reading! I really appreciate it! _

_Reno: Yes, keep reviewing and reading. Who knows what she'll do to me next? _

_Authoress: *ahem* I know. I have it all planned out. I won't tell you though. You might run away...._

_Reno: *gasp* _


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: So sorry these chapters are like really short, but I can only write so much every night. =( Things are picking up again and I'm best when there's a lot going on so hopefully I'll be able to post some larger chapters soon. At least you guys get something new to read everyday! Always see the glass as half-full. Unless it's a gross drink and then see it as half-empty. But this is a fanfic, not a gross drink.....ok I think I'm getting a bit side-tracked. Thanks to all my readers and special, special thanks to my faithful reviewers. I love you guys. =P I would like to point out that at part of this chapter I cried. Not like a sob-fest cry but like a couple of tears cry. I was all emo for like a day. =P So appreciate my efforts because sometimes they make me emo. lol _

_Disclaimer: I don't own these people. I presume you all know that. I mean, if you knew enough to go try to find a Reno fanfic, you should know who created the guy and thus you should know it wasn't me. =P As much as I'd like to take credit for that miraculous creation. xD _

_Read and enjoy! _

"So this is the only guy?" Reno asked, looking up at Tseng from the paper in his hand. The Turk leader nodded.

"He's the instigator of the whole thing apparently. With him out of the picture, we just have a couple of troublemakers to take care of and this whole issue is dealt with. Remember to be careful. They'll be on their guard if they've heard about any of last night's unfortunate incidents. You'll have to break into this guy's house. Make sure you aren't seen." Reno rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Tseng. I know what I'm doing."

"I know. I also know that you are incredibly cocky and conceited. You need to be reminded once in awhile." Reno just grinned and waved as he walked out of Tseng's office. He slid into his chair, making it spin.

Rude's pen scratching across his paper was the only sound in the quiet room. Reno looked over at Elena. She was scowling slightly at her computer screen. Solitaire. _How unlike her. _Reno shook his head and smirked. _Dammit she's cute._ He continued to spin around slowly in his chair, staring at the white ceiling. The room was dead quiet.

Suddenly Reno leaped out of his chair and screamed. Rude jumped, dropping his pen and Elena let out a small cry and dropped her computer mouse on the floor. Both of them stared at him. A very confused Tseng came out of his office.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking at Reno at once. Rude and Elena were staring at him expectantly.

"It was too quiet," Reno smiled innocently and settled back in his chair. Tseng rolled his eyes and went back into his office without another word, slamming his door. Rude picked his pen off the floor and threw it at Reno before getting another.

"Hey, Rude you dropped your pen," the red-head caught it and tossed it back onto Rude's desk. He was completely ignored.

"I would have had a new record…" Elena mumbled, getting back to her card game. Reno just smiled, pleased with himself. _It's good to stir things up once in awhile._

Later that afternoon, everyone was preparing for their own missions. After making sure he had everything he needed, Reno walked out the door, waving without looking back.

"Make sure to call me when you're done," Tseng called after him.

Reno was on the street of the house he was looking for before long. He knew his way around the slums like the back of his hand. Lingering in the eternal shadows found beneath the Plate, he waited, watching every man who walked down the street carefully. So far none of them matched the picture he had.

The Turk had to wait several hours until the target came into sight. Reno watched intently as the man let himself into the house. A light came on in an upstairs window. In ten minutes, it was gone again. _Just a matter of time now._ After waiting long enough, Reno slipped over to the door of the trashy house and tried the knob. It was locked, but you never knew down here. _No problem._ His expert fingers had the lock picked as fast as if he'd actually had a key. Slipping into the dark house, he pulled his gun out of his pocket. Not silent, but good enough.

A nightlight in the corner lit the room just enough to see. _This is way too easy._ Reno's grin faded as he saw the sleeping lumps on the couches in the small room. _He's got kids? Tseng didn't say anything about that._ He frowned and took pains not to look at the sleeping children as he made his way toward the rickety staircase. Creeping up the stairs silently, Reno felt memories coming back. Bad ones. He shoved them away viciously and concentrated hard on just doing his job. He didn't need to be thinking about his own childhood right now.

There was only one door at the top of the stairs and Reno opened it softly. The man he was looking for was sound asleep next to his wife. _Dammit._ How was he supposed to fire a gun in the room and not wake her up? He knew what would happen, but he didn't want to think about it. _"Don't be seen."_ Tseng had said. Reno steeled himself mentally and took aim. A single shot pierced the air.

The man wasn't waking up again, but his wife woke up and shrieked once she saw her dead husband. Reno moved slightly and the woman whirled. Her scream cut off abruptly as a second shot rang out. He turned and was out the door and down the stairs in seconds, still silent as ever. Something stirred in the room and he pressed against a wall, grateful for the shadows the engulfed him as if he belonged. One of the children was awake. The little boy yawned and rubbed his eyes, looking confused. He walked over to the stairs, passing right by Reno. The boy disappeared through the door at the top.

_Shit._ Reno knew what was coming and he didn't bother trying to be quiet as he slipped out the door and ran up the street, attempting to escape the sound. His efforts were fruitless. He was barely a few steps away when the horrified scream dragged him to a stop. The sound ripped through him, causing Reno to wince as his heart squeezed. He knew that sound well. He'd heard it many times in his nightmares for years after he'd made it himself. The only difference was he'd watched both his parents murdered and this boy had just found their bodies.

"I'm sorry," Reno managed to whisper before he bolted, running from the wave of emotion that threatened to drown him. He ran until he couldn't run anymore, not caring where he'd gone. Leaning against a crumbling brick wall, he stared up at the jungle of steel and concrete above his head. When his panting subsided a little, Reno slid to the ground, his head in his hands. He only moved when tears came into his eyes. Angrily wiping them away, he got up and walked back towards home, hands shoved deep in his pockets. He'd spent years trying to forget and one little incident brought back all the pain, fear, and sorrow of his early life.

Reno went into the first bar he came to. This problem, like all others, could be solved easily. He could still see the bloodied bodies of his parents like it was yesterday. All his other memories of them had faded except for that.

When he was drunk enough to take the edge of the pain, but still sober enough to get home, he left. He didn't bother to turn any lights on when he got back to his apartment, he simply headed straight for the fridge and grabbed several bottles of beer.

Oblivion. He hated it, but couldn't live without it. Reno was slumped in a corner of his dark apartment, empty beer bottles surrounding him. His head leaned against the wall and his half-lidded eyes stared unseeing at his empty hands. He was too drunk to think or feel much of anything. Still a vague sense of misery clung to him. The hangover was going to be the worst he'd had in a long time, but it was worth the few hours he'd be free from the thoughts that tormented him.

Tseng frowned at the phone in front of him. Reno hadn't called and wasn't picking up now. He should have called last night. Tseng stepped out of his office.

"Rude, can you go see if Reno is home or not? He never called last night and he won't pick up now." Rude looked up and nodded, leaving hurriedly without a word. Elena watched him go, looking worried.

"He's probably just trying to annoy me," Tseng said, trying to reassure her "But I have to be sure." Elena just nodded, worry still creasing her forehead.

Rude knocked on Reno's door anyway, even though he knew no one would answer. He picked the lock and went in. He only had to survey the room once. _Damn, Reno._ The red-head was out cold in a corner. Going by the empty bottles around him, Reno had been drinking hard. _Something must have happened._ He knew Reno. The man drank frequently, but only this bad when something was wrong.

Rude started picking up the bottles from the floor.

"Rude?" Reno's voice was weary, "Shit, I feel awful." He groaned and rubbed his head.

"What happened?" Rude didn't bother beating around the bush. Reno needed to talk about his problems, and to a person, not a bottle. Reno just looked at him before grinning half-heartedly.

"There's no getting anything past you is there?" Rude just shook his head. Reno sighed and dropped his head into his hands.

"The guy had kids. Orphans now. One of them found the bodies." Rude nodded. He understood. He was probably the only person besides Reno himself who knew about the man's past.

"I'll tell Tseng you'll be in later," Rude said, "We still have loose ends to tie up." Reno nodded without looking up at him.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Don't dwell on it," Rude said over his shoulder as he left.

"He'll come in later." That was all Rude said as sat at his desk. There was silence as Tseng and Elena waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"So," Tseng said slowly, "What's the problem?" Rude looked up.

"The man he was after had children." A look of understanding came over Tseng's face, then pity.

"Oh. I would have sent someone else if I'd known," The Turk leader sounded regretful, "I'm guessing he's got one hell of a hangover." Rude nodded. Tseng sighed and headed back into his office. Elena was looking from one to another, slightly confused. The man had children. It was very sad that they had lost a father, and that would have bothered her, but Reno? He seemed…harder than that.

Rude saw the look on her face. She wouldn't have known.

"His parents were murdered right in front of him," he said bluntly. Elena was surprised.

"That's terrible! I had no idea." Sympathy welled up for the red-head. He always seemed so goofy. She never would have guessed at his sad past.

_Author's Note: Oh, by the way, I know I stop in weird places. But if I were to post anything past this, I would have to post up until like, where I am now. And that just wouldn't work. Because right now I'm in the middle of a scene so...yeah just deal with it. =P _

_Please review! Thanks for reading! xD_


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: ARGH! I'm trying to post a chapter every night, but it's catching up to me! I have to write more, faster! School and a job are really helping too. T_T Ok, I'll make my author's note shorter, and spend that time writing the actual fanfic. So thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love it. Also, major thanks to The Sacred and the Profane for my story! It's called Amends. It is amazing. =) My faithful reviewers are awesome, as usual. You know who you are. xD Ok, got to go write! _

Reno stayed in his corner for quite some time after Rude left. His head pounded miserably. He had to head to the bathroom when he felt the entire contents of his stomach coming up. After his stomach was through torturing him, he lay on the floor, head pressed against the cool tile. _I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. _He didn't know another way to cope. By the time the hangover was gone, usually the problem was too.

Several hours and a shower later, he was feeling well enough to go to work. Elena and Rude looked up when he walked in. Rude just nodded a hello and went back to work. Reno grinned at Elena.

"Who died?" he joked, seeing the depressed look on her face. She just shook her head and turned quickly back to the computer in front of her. She snuck another look at Reno as he sat in his chair, giving it the usual spin. Her heart still ached for him. He looked happy enough but when she looked closer, she realized it didn't reach his eyes. While she was scrutinizing him, he looked up and their eyes locked briefly before she turned away, face burning. It was embarrassing to be caught staring.

Reno watched her, amused, for a few minutes. Why had she been staring at him? His thoughts were interrupted by Tseng coming out of his office.

"I've got jobs for us all," he announced, "Rude, here is your list of targets. Nothing special, they're just a few that could cause trouble. I'll be taking some too. Elena, we still have one man we're not sure about. You and Reno will be following him tonight to see if he's involved. Make sure to call when you're done."

_Rude must have told him,_ Reno thought, only mildly annoyed. He knew it was inevitable Tseng would find out why he hadn't called. He rejoiced internally about going on a mission with Elena. He knew he was failing miserably at trying to forget his feelings for her. Right now, he just didn't care. He loved being with her anywhere, anytime.

"Everyone got it? Good." Tseng snapped a clip into his gun and headed out the door.

Reno and Elena were loitering in the shadows outside a specific bar in the slums. The man they were to follow was in there, and should come out soon. They hadn't spoken much, just stood in silence for the most part. Normally Reno didn't have a problem thinking of anything to say but the only things he could think of now involved how nice she smelled, how much he wanted to touch her hair, how he loved every little movement she made. None of those would help him focus on watching every face that exited the bar across the street. So he didn't say anything and tried not to look at her either.

Finally, the man they were watching for came out the door and headed up the street. Reno and Elena started walking slowly in the same direction on the opposite side of the road. They followed him deeper and deeper into the slums. Reno noted with satisfaction that every step, every turn the man made was taking them closer to the meeting place they had identified a few days ago.

"Shit," Reno glanced around quickly. They had turned a corner and the man was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, the road forked off in two different directions. "Ok, I'll go this way, you go that way. Pick up the pace. If you see him, call." Elena nodded and walked briskly off down her road while Reno followed the other.

She lost sight of her partner almost at once. The road was dark, hardly any of the street lights worked and those that did flickered annoyingly. There wasn't a soul around. Elena walked faster. If they lost the man, they would have to do it all over again the next night. _I want a normal night's sleep again! _Running around all night was starting to wear on her. Soon, she heard footsteps. They were in the wrong place though. The man should be in front of her and she heard someone walking behind her.

_Reno?_ She discarded the thought almost before it popped into her head. He would have called and…Reno was only one person. Now she heard at least three behind her. Elena's pulse jumped as every last horrific story she'd heard about lone women in the slums filled her head. Her hand pressed comfortingly against her gun. She sped up a little and briefly considered calling Reno. _But what if he's found the target? The sound would give him away…_

She gripped her gun tightly and kept walking as quickly as she could, concentrating with all her might on listening to the footsteps behind her. She didn't notice the odd shadows in front of her until suddenly five huge men were in front of her, blocking her way. Elena gasped and stumbled back a few steps, right into another group of men who had been following her.

"Hey gorgeous," one laughed cruelly. Turk-training coming in handy, her hand flew up and broke his nose in one swift motion. The man staggered back, holding his face and shouting curses. Elena jumped away, out of reach of any of the men and pulled her gun, holding it on the group.

"Get lost!" She could have kicked herself for the obvious waver in her voice. It wasn't lost on any of them. The closest smiled menacingly and edged closer.

"That isn't something a little lady like yourself should be carrying," his voice was sickeningly sweet. He reached slowly to grab her arm.

"I'm warning you," Elena jerked back a little to avoid the man's touch. He lashed out at once and grabbed her arm in a vice grip. She screamed, in shock and pain as he jerked her up against him. She looked up at him, the cold look in her eyes surprised the man, and squeezed the trigger. His blood splattered all over her, but he let go of her arm and staggered to the ground, clutching the hole in his chest.

The whole group jumped her at once, wrenching the gun from her grasp. She was slammed against a wall, hard enough to make her vision flicker. Someone quickly frisked her for any hidden weapons, hands lingering here and there. Elena struggled to break away, but they held her still. _Damn, this guys are bigger than Rude! _She didn't stop fighting to get free, but she started to panic as nothing she did was even the tiniest bit successful. The first man who had spoken to her approached. His sneer was made even more horrible by the blood running from his broken nose.

"Thought you could best us, huh?" He came ever closer and his eyes were never on her face, "Well you'll never make that mistake again, if I decide to let you live." With a shudder, she stopped struggling and tilted her head back.

"Reno!" She put every ounce of strength into her scream and just barely got it out before a giant fist slammed into her gut.

_Author's Note: *gasp* So dramatic! Sorry for the cliffhanger, those of you that care, but I'm doing my best! Thanks for reading and reviewing. *hint hint* So remember to review. xD _


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: Ok so when I uploaded this, the whole thing was underlined and in bold. I have no idea why. I certainly didn't write it that way! But it's fixed now so whatever. I'm sure you guys were just dying to know that. =P Sorry if I share useless information. I'm just like that! Watch closely, because when I talk every now and then jewels of literature fall from my lips! lol I'm strange, get used to it. =P So here is another chapter. Duh. Please enjoy it. =) I will not leave it at a cliffhanger because Naril doesn't like them. =) And I don't know if I'll be able to post a chapter tomorrow night. =( Very busy! So read this, and pray that a miracle occurs and the words just roll of my fingertips and onto the keyboard! Then with a little luck, magic, and a dash of love, a wonderful chapter can be posted tomorrow! Wow, I'm so odd. I swear I'm not drunk or anything. xD So just read and review! Thanks!_

Reno walked quickly, carefully searching the shadows for any sign of the target. He rolled his eyes, imagining what Tseng would say if he called to say they'd lost the target. A sound he was very familiar with broke the silence. A gunshot. He stopped and frowned. It wasn't a strange sound below the Plate, but it made him uneasy all the same. Looking back in the direction he'd come, he hesitated. _Should I call her?_ He was worried about Elena. _It might not have been her…_

His internal debate was decided for him in an instant. He heard her scream his name, and sprinted back towards where they'd split up. Reno panicked hearing how far off the sound had been. It only took him about five minutes to get back to where the road split, but to him it felt like an eternity with Elena's scream still echoing in his ears.

He skidded around the corner and raced up the other street. Something was happening to her, something bad and dammit why couldn't he move any faster? Before long, he saw a body in the street and could just barely make out several shadows in an alley. Laughter reached his ears, making his blood boil. Without slowing, Reno hurtled into the alley and launched himself at the nearest person.

Elena soon gave up attempting to hold her own against the man attacking her. He was harder to stop than a truck and had his friends backing him up. She landed numerous kicks and punches, but nothing stopped him for long. It didn't help that countless pairs of hands were constantly grabbing her, holding her back. Finally she switched tactics and just tried to avoid getting hit as best as she could. Elena could already feel the many bruises and her lip was split.

A hard punch connected with her jaw, sending her reeling to the ground. Stars swam in her vision as she struggled to gather her legs under her and get up. She was dizzy and staggered, grabbing the wall for support but slowly sinking anyway. She was vaguely aware that he'd stopped hitting her, but wished he would instead when he pressed against her, squashing her between him and the wall.

_Oh damn no. _She shuddered and mentally cringed, knowing what was coming and knowing she was helpless to stop him. _Reno, where the hell are you?_

Minutes later, she saw the flash of red hair and almost fainted from relief. She barely heard the commotion as the man threw her roughly to the ground. Tears slowly dripped down her face as she curled up tightly. His hands were finally off of her, but she wouldn't ever forget how close he'd been. _If Reno had been a second later…._she squeezed her eyes shut and desperately blocked the thought from her head.

Reno slammed into a man, knocking him to the ground. Looking around frantically, he spotted Elena. His stomach lurched. _Damned bastard!_ His pulse pounded in his ears as he turned furiously on a man who had dared attempt a punch. Reno evaded the clumsy attack easily, and whipped out his EMR, giving the man a shock that sent him flying into the brick wall. The Turk spun right and left, knocking everyone back, not even planning his movements. He just let the rage take him. His anger multiplied when he realized he had a grasp on the man he'd seen molesting Elena. The look she'd had on her face flashed through his mind and he was seeing red.

The man didn't stand a chance, especially with his friends all down. Reno had the man's arm twisted behind his back and had smashed his face into the wall in a mille-second.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Reno was seething. The man tried to look at his attacker, a frightened look on his face.

"Nothing, man. Just let me go!" All he got was a further twist on his arm. Reno looked for Elena, spotting her curled up on the ground several feet away. She was shaking. With a burst of fury, he grabbed a handful of the man's hair and pulled his head back before ramming it into the wall repeatedly.

"Look at her!" Reno yelled in the man's ear, jerking him away from the wall and throwing him to the ground, "Don't tell me you didn't do anything to her!" The man scrambled up and ran. Reno half pulled out his gun but, his anger suddenly spent, left it. He turned and ran to Elena, getting down on his knees by her.

"Elena?" he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder softly. There was blood on her face. Her eyes opened and looked up at him, shiny with tears. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Reno hugged her back, gathering as much of her up in his arms as he could.

"I was afraid you didn't hear me," she said, her words muffled in his jacket, "You came just in time." Her voice cracked.

"I'll always hear you, and I'll always come," he whispered into her hair, relieved to hear he had been 'just in time'.

They didn't move for awhile, just sat there together. Finally Reno spoke.

"We should go. I'll take you home." He felt Elena nod against his chest and he helped her up. She straightened her very rumpled clothing and they walked off, stepping over the unconscious bodies laying everywhere.

"You going to be ok?" Reno's bright eyes were filled with concern as he watched her closely. Elena paused in her doorway, turning to face him with a small smile.

"I'll be fine," she said with a deep breath, "Thanks. For…all of it." She stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into her apartment.

A rather stunned red-head was left alone in the hall. He grinned hugely and ran off, taking the stairs three at a time.

_Author's Note: Well wasn't that nice. =) Thanks so much for reading, especially those of you who read faithfully. And thanks millions to those who review, especially those who review for every chapter! Love you guys! xD_


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: I'm so sorry for not posting sooner! I just finished this like 10 minutes ago. So I'm posting it now! Sorry to leave you guys without anything for two days. I feel bad about that....but this is here now and it's good! At least I think it's good...leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!_

"Yeah, I'm serious!" Reno was searching his room for the alarm clock. It seemed to have grown legs and walked away.

"Reno, how could you guys have _lost_ the man? I mean, I shouldn't be surprised you managed to screw up something as simple as _walking in the same direction as someone else._" Tseng was extremely annoyed.

"Well we just did. And I'm tired so I'm going to sleep. Go bitch about it to somebody else." With that, Reno flipped the phone closed and threw it on a table. "Where is that damn clock!"

Finally, he gave up and went into the kitchen. He slammed to fridge door angrily after getting a bottle of beer. A wire caught his eye.

"What the hell…" he fished the clock out of the pile of clothes, "How on earth did you get there?" He glared at the thing suspiciously, taking it back to his room. Rude had always laughed at him when he'd said he didn't trust his alarm clock. _Wait until he hears this. It was hiding from me! _

After setting the clock, Reno quickly finished off the beer and rolled into bed. His red hair fell in his eyes, but he didn't bother brushing it away.

Tseng scrutinized the two Turks standing before him. After several seconds of silence he finally spoke.

"Well I hope you're happy. Thanks to your sloppy work, the man you were trailing has heard of all the 'incidents' and, even as we speak, is leaving the city," Tseng's look was disapproving, "Naturally, we can't just let him go. You two are going to have to go get him. Luckily, we can make a pretty good guess as to where he is headed. It seems he has a house in the mountains and last time he was seen, he was heading in that direction." Tseng tossed a file of information to Reno.

"So…we just have to catch up to him and take him out?" Elena asked.

"Well I was thinking intercepting him would be a better tactic. If you fly, you'll be moving faster than he is. I'm sure you can find a place out of sight to land," Tseng cast a glance at Reno.

"I can land on a dime," Reno boasted with a grin. Elena rolled her eyes. He was the best pilot of all of them and he knew it. They knew it too and he didn't let them forget it.

"Alright then. Don't screw it up this time," Tseng sent them off with a glare.

Reno flopped down in the snow for the hundredth time with another annoyed sigh.

"Will you be still?" Elena turned on him with a frown. It was late afternoon by the time they had gotten in position. They had been waiting over the top of a small hill for almost an hour. The road they looked down on could barely be called a road. It was more like a really long driveway to the house that was about half a mile further down, around several bends.

"I'm so bored," Reno wined, tracing a frowny face in the snow with a long finger. Elena suppressed a smile. He behaved like a child. _Wouldn't want it any other way though._ She glanced over at the red-head who was amusing himself with stick figure drawings in the snow. She shivered slightly. It was cold laying in the snow, but if they even sat up they would be visible. It wasn't too bad as long as the sun shone. It peeked out from behind fluffy white clouds frequently, warming her back.

The sound of an engine broke the relative quiet. Both Turks slipped slowly up towards the crest of the hill. A car was coming up the road quickly. Reno checked the picture from the file.

"That's him," he grinned, pulling out his gun, "We'll shoot out the tires and then move in." Elena nodded in agreement, pulling out her gun too.

"I'll get the back tires," she said. Both took careful aim. At a nod from Reno, two shots fired, closely followed by two more.

With screeches and squeals the car skidded around the road for a bit before coming to rest roughly in a snow drift on one side. Moments later, the driver's door opened and a man took off running into the trees on the other side of the road.

"After him we go," Reno shoved off from the ground and slid down the small hill. Elena followed and the two ran into the trees. They could see the man running ahead of them. Lucky for him, the trees got in the way too much to take a clear shot. Reno was pulling ahead, his long legs giving him an advantage. The trees thinned up ahead, giving way to an empty white expanse.

_Not getting away this time!_ Reno raised his gun and took aim as the man neared a ledge in front of them. The man jumped down the incline and disappeared from Reno's sight for a moment. The second the man came into view again, Reno fired. His momentum carried him over the small drop and he kept running for a few feet, slowing from his sprint. He noted with satisfaction that the man had dropped and not gotten up. Suddenly his foot slipped, and he was sliding across ice. He struggled to catch his balance before he fell, but a loud crack made him stop dead still. Staring down at the ice warily, he slowly slid to a stop.

Just hopping over the ledge, Elena called out to him.

"Hey, Reno! You got him." She started walking toward her partner. Hearing her call out, his head snapped up.

"Wait, stop! It's ice," the words were barely out of his mouth when a sharp crack bit the air and Reno fell straight down, disappearing with a splash and a cry.

"Reno!" Elena got to her knees and moved onto the ice, laying on her stomach to spread the weight out. She quickly but carefully slid across the ice, anxiously watching the hole where Reno had gone down. She let out a sigh of relief when his head bobbed back up moments later. He was still floating in ice water, but at least he wasn't trapped underneath the ice.

"Reno?" she called out, slithering closer and closer. She could see his pale hands grip the ice.

"Yeah?" his voice was a shaky and she could hear his teeth chattering.

"Uh, how are you going to get out?" She was close enough to reach out and touch him now. His soaked red hair was getting in his eyes.

"Like this," he grabbed her hands and slowly pulled himself out, being careful to disperse as much of his weight as he could. The ice groaned and creaked but didn't break again.

When they were back on solid ground, Reno walked over to the man and checked for a pulse.

"Mission accomplished," he stammered, shaking from the cold and rubbing his arms vigorously, "Let's get back quick. I need a hot shower." He turned and started walking back towards the road. As he past her, Elena noticed that his clothes had already stiffened with a paper-thin layer of ice. A tiny droplet of water fell from the tip of his nose.

"Reno, you're going to catch pneumonia or something," She crossed her arms and put on her sternest face. He stopped and looked at her.

"Well how the hell am I gonna warm up here?" He demanded, his soaked hair dripping in his eyes.

"That guy had a house around here didn't he? We can warm you up there before heading back," She watched as he thought about this for a minute, "Anyway, the longer we spend here, the longer you don't have to do the paperwork on this one." She smiled to herself knowing that she had won.

"Fine, let's just go," he muttered, trudging through the snow. Elena followed, watching the wind whip around him.

"There! We're in," Elena straightened, pleased with herself. Reno's fingers had been to frozen to pick the lock so Elena had done it. Swinging the door open, they went inside. A quick glance told them it was deserted. A fireplace and a big couch were the only things in the room.

"Well this is much better," Reno said sarcastically, looking around the small, mostly empty house which was just as cold as it was outside.

"At least you're out of the wind," Elena smacked the back of his head playfully, "Be grateful. Hang on a minute." She poked around the few rooms and came back with an armful of blankets.

"You need to, um, take those off." She gestured toward him while staring at the floorboards.

"I have to take my clothes off?" Reno stopped rubbing his fingers together and gave her a suspicious look.

"Seriously, Reno. Don't you know anything about survival situations? The clothes are only going to make you colder as long as they're wet," Elena muttered.

"Fine, I'll take 'em off," He quickly stripped down to his boxers and stood there shivering, "What now?"

"You warm up," she shoved the blankets at him and turned toward the fireplace in the wall. The logs were already laid for a fire. By the time she had decent blaze going, Reno was sitting on the big couch wound up in blankets.

"I'm still cold," he announced, his words muffled as he tried to warm his nose in the blanket.

"Here, this should help," Elena sat down next to him and put her arms around him awkwardly. Reno reached out and wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in the blankets and pulling her close.

"You're warm," Reno said flatly. She was pressed against his trembling body. Feeling how icy his skin was, she untangled her arms from the blankets and put them around him, hesitantly laying her head on his shoulder. _I'm so glad he can't see my face._ She could have sworn her face was redder than his hair, which was tickling her neck. _Just trying to warm him up._ She knew in the back of her head that she was enjoying every second of it.

Reno stared hard into the fire, holding his breath. He hoped she wouldn't hear his pounding heart although he didn't see how she couldn't considering her head was laying right over it. He was focused completely on her, her arms around his chest, her head on his shoulder, his arm on her back. Every muscle was so tense he felt sure he'd snap any moment. Ignoring how he felt about her was beyond impossible.

Her delicate scent was intoxicating. _Dammit, Elena. Why can't I resist you? Torture, no problem. But this? _He looked down at her hair, struggling to get a hold of himself. _Oh what the hell, I give up. _With one smooth motion, he brought her face up and pressed his mouth to hers.

Reno took his lips off her mouth and his aquamarine eyes locked with hers. Elena stared up at him in shocked surprise, mouth slightly agape.

"I can't get you out of my head. I can't focus, or get any work done, or do anything but think about you. Elena, I love you," his voice was almost inaudible. He wasn't looking at her anymore, but he was still hovering inches away from her face. "I tried not to, I tried to forget. But I can't and I-"

Elena leaned up and kissed him tenderly.

"Hush," she said quietly in a breathy voice, just barely pulling back from his lips before kissing him again, deeply this time. Reno put his arms around her and leaned over slowly, until she felt her head and back press into the couch gently. His kisses grew more passionate now, and then his lips left her mouth and slid slowly along her jawbone, his breath tickling her neck the whole way.

"You're beautiful," he whispered before kissing her softly just below her ear. She arched her neck as his soft kisses moved down her throat. Struggling to get out of her jacket, Elena pulled Reno closer to her, fingers tracing the hard muscles in his back.

Laughing softly, he put his lips to hers, delicately at first but growing more and more passionate. A hand slipped from her back to her stomach and rubbed circles lazily before his fingers began to toy with the buttons of her shirt. He undid them slowly, starting at the bottom and working up. Stopping before undoing the last few, Reno brushed a fold of the fabric aside and drew his fingers lightly down her abdomen pausing when he came to the waistband of her pants. Two fingers slipped under the band and slid across her waist under the fabric.

Elena moaned softly in his mouth and cupped his face in her hands, kissing him long and hard. She pushed him up until he was sitting on the couch and threw a leg over his lap. Straddling his legs, she pressed as close to him as she could. Her hands stroked his chest. He was kissing her neck again as his hands moved up her back. She felt him smile when he found the clasp he was looking for. After deftly undoing it, he finally unbuttoned the last few buttons on her shirt. Pulling her tightly against him, he laid her down again.

"You wanna do this now?" His eyes sparkled brightly, inches away from her own.

"I love you, Reno," she answered, tracing the red marks on his face, "You can have me completely. Heart and….body." She whispered the last words, her lips brushing his. Elena felt his intake of breath before he grinned.

_Author's Note: This is the part where the music rises and the camera pans away. xD If this was a movie. Which it's not. Clearly. I don't have to tell you guys that. =P lol so thanks for reading and please please please PLEASE leave me reviews. =P _


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: OMG I'm so sorry I haven't posted for like three, four days. =( I feel like a terrible person! I've been busy and then I was at a friend's house last night. Ate ice cream and watched funny youtube vids, movies, and random anime all night so I had no time to write. I had a lot of fun though. I'm in the middle of writing right now...well not RIGHT now cuz now I'm posting this but you get it. =) So I got a couple comments complaining about where I stopped in that last chapter....=P xD sorry about that. You're going to have to deal with it though. lol On the topic of reviews, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. =) I love reading them. I save them all so I can go back in my inbox and read all the reviews when I'm bored. Maybe I'm weird but I love them. =P So thanks for reviewing! I really really appreciate it! Especially my faithful reviewers who reply to every chapter I post! Love you guys! So read away now and I'm gonna go write some more...._

Reno watched the slowly dying fire. Elena was sleeping in his arms, cuddled against him. He rubbed her shoulder gently, marveling at the softness of her skin. She mumbled something in her sleep and stretched an arm up to wrap around his neck, pulling closer to him. Her cheek pressed against his chest and he felt her soft and even breaths. With a little smile, he smoothed her hair and kissed her head. He slid his fingertips up and down her arm watching her face twitch until she opened her eyes. Blinking at his chest a few times, she looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"We forgot to call Tseng," she said brushing his hair out of his face. Reno made a face.

"To hell with Tseng, I'll call him when I so please," he grinned, "Actually, as nice as this is, we should probably go. Our work is never over." He sighed dramatically.

"Well it certainly took long enough," Tseng handed a file to Reno, "Fill all these out before you go home." Reno made a face but took the papers anyway.

Back at his desk, Reno carelessly tossed the new file on top of a large stack of similar files before kicking his feet up and grinning at Elena. She smiled back.

"Lazy," she whispered. He just stuck his tongue out and whipped a pair of headphones out of a drawer.

Tapping his fingers with the music, he grabbed a random file from the stack. He flipped through pages of unfilled paperwork about a job he'd done weeks ago. An idea hit him, and with a huge smile he grabbed a pen and began to draw pictures depicting the incident on the edges of the paper. His stick figures were all over the page, hiding behind words and leaping over the blanks.

Later that afternoon, Elena grabbed her car keys and turned off her computer giving Reno a wink before walking out the door.

"I'm leaving," Reno said, slapping the file full of pictures down on Tseng's desk. He didn't wait around for the man to look at the papers. With a wave for Rude, he headed down the hall. Elena was waiting around the corner. Without a word, Reno pushed her to the wall and kissed her, pressing his whole body against her.

"I saw that one coming," Rude walked past barely giving them more than a glance. Reno smirked and gave the blushing Elena another kiss before entwining his fingers in hers and ambling down the hall.

"So," Reno looked down at her with sparkling eyes, "My apartment or yours?"

The sun streamed in through the window, waking Elena up. She yawned and blinked in the light. A small smile spread across her face as she turned her head to try and get a glimpse of Reno. He was still sleeping, his nose just touching the back of her neck. A long, pale arm was draped over her side, fingers resting on the mattress.

Elena stroked each finger gently. Picking his hand up, she rolled over carefully and put his arm back around her. She rested her forehead against his and sighed contentedly, watching his chest rise and fall evenly. Fingering the edges of the over-sized t-shirt she was wearing, she thought over the past few weeks. Waking up next to Reno was something she'd never get used to. It felt incredibly good to open her eyes and see him.

She leaned forward a little and kissed his lips ever so slightly before slipping out of bed. After taking a shower and making breakfast, she decided it was time to wake Reno up.

"Get up, Reno. You'll be late for work," Elena hopped onto the bed next to him and shook his shoulder, "I made bacon." At this his eyes opened and he rolled over onto his back, groggy aquamarine eyes looking up at her.

"Look whose up bright and early," Reno grinned and tapped her leg before groaning loudly, "I guess I _have_ to get up." Elena tossed his work clothes at him as he rolled out of bed.

"I washed them. Who knows the last time you did that."

"Wow, you found something else to clean! I thought you'd already cleaned everything at least twice," Reno's tone was mocking as he buttoned his pants.

"Your apartment was beyond a mess until I got to it," Elena threw a pillow at him which he neatly avoided, slipping an arm into a sleeve, "It took me almost a week to bring it up to normal human standards."

"I liked it that way. Everything was out were I could get to it," Reno pulled Elena in his arms, "But it was a good trade." She smiled and started buttoning up his shirt, leaving the top few undone.

"Tseng's got a job for you," Rude said without looking up as soon as they walked in.

"When doesn't he?" Reno walked into Tseng's office without knocking and plopped down in a chair, "So what is it this time?"

Tseng ignored him for a few minutes as he finished writing.

"Just an average trouble-maker that needs handling," Tseng handed over a file, "Take care of it without any complications please." Tseng went back to his work.

Reno left the man's office and leaned against the wall looking over the file. _Nothing special._ He threw the file onto his desk and ambled over to Elena, who was copying something. He picked her up and sat her down on the edge of her desk. Standing in-between her legs with his hands on her hips, he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

"Reno, don't you have somewhere to be?" Tseng set a stack of papers on Rude's desk. He'd given up trying to explain the rules on PDA to Reno long ago.

Elena blushed but Reno just smiled. Winking at her, he went and grabbed the file from his desk.

"I'm just leaving," he said cheerily, heading out the door.

Reno walked through one of the more disreputable parts of Midgar. One more job well done. He had thoughts only for Elena. _I'll take her out somewhere nice._ The idea pleased him. An out-of-place noise stopped him. He stood very still, looking in the direction of the sound. Nothing stirred. He was about to move on when something stung his arm.

A small dart protruded from his upper arm. Even as he reached to pull it out with one hand and for his gun with the other, his senses dulled. _Sedative._ Reno swayed a little, his vision blurring and than collapsed on the ground unconscious.

_Author's Note: lol Naril I know how you love cliffhangers. =) Hope everyone liked this chapter...I'm doing my best. I'm gonna keep this short so I can go write. Thanks so much for reading and please review! Even if it's just a smiley...I'll still like it. Of course, preferrably I get like 10 HUGE reviews but whatever. I'm happy with whatever I get. xD _


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: This has got to be like the shortest chapter I've ever posted, but it's better than nothing! =) I'm working hard, I promise you. Hope you guys like it, remember to review. =) Oh, and guess what??? I go on spring break next week which means I should have lots more time to write. Hopefully. =P You never know with me. So enjoy this, and review or else....xD_

Elena swiveled back and forth in her chair, waiting. It was getting late and there was no sign of Reno. Frowning slightly, she tapped her pen against the edge of the desk. Rude glanced at the man's empty desk.

"Still not back?" Tseng noticed the concern on Elena's face and added, "I wouldn't worry about him until tomorrow morning. He tends to mess around and make things ten-times harder than they have to be." Elena nodded but wasn't reassured. She still worried.

Half an hour passed and still he hadn't come back. Elena sighed and got up from her desk.

"I'm going to wait for him at home," she said to Rude, "Call me if he comes back here, ok?"

"Call me if he shows up there." Elena nodded and left.

Closing the door softly behind her, she walked into Reno's apartment. He wasn't there. She sighed and turned on some lights before getting something to eat. She cleaned up the kitchen, took a shower and settled on the couch in an oversized t-shirt and her underwear. The TV was on but Elena didn't really watch it. _Where are you, Reno?_

The hours ticked away without a sign of the Turk. Curled up on the sofa, Elena slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep.

She woke up after a few restless hours of tossing and turning. Almost a whole pot of coffee later, Elena went into work early. When she came in, Rude was just walking out of Tseng's office. He looked hopefully past Elena, but it faded when no mischievous smile and flaming red hair followed her in.

"Guess you haven't heard from him either?" Elena was tired and worried and it showed in her voice. Rude shook his head.

"We're discussing what to do," Tseng said, "Whatever's happened to him, we'll find out. There's always a clue, you just have to look hard enough. Rude is on his way to meet with some of our underworld informants. I'll let you know when there's something you can do, Elena."

She wanted desperately to be assigned something, anything to keep her from sitting around all day imagining what could be have happened to Reno. It was useless to argue with Tseng though and she knew it. So with a nod she sat at her desk and did her best to concentrate on her work.

The days passed in much the same way. Rude and Tseng went in and out busily, stopping by Elena's desk every now and then with some new little tidbit of information. They were definitely getting somewhere, but the going was slow and the information they received was vague and sometimes conflicting. So far they were sure that someone had abducted Reno, although who or why was still a mystery. None of this eased Elena's tension and every minute only increased her worry.

_Who's got him, why and what are they doing to him?_ Her thoughts were pure torture. With a miserable groan she collapsed on her desk. _We need something more to go on, a name, a place, anything. Something, someone I can get my hands on. I'll make them give my Reno back._ She could keep her cool when things were happening but this waiting was driving her insane.

"Elena?" Rude's voice was tense, "I think we've pinned the culprit down." Her head snapped up from the desk, wide-eyed.

"It appears to be remnants of those revolutionaries we took care of awhile ago," Tseng came in behind Rude, "Apparently we underestimated some of them. We believe we've found their hide-out. Chances are, Reno's there."

"The bastards will pay," Rude muttered darkly.

"I'll dig up the blueprints and then we can strategize," Tseng headed towards his office.

Spreading the papers out on his desk, Tseng and the other Turks inspected them carefully.

"This will have to be treated as a hostage situation. Stealth will be the key until we've secured Reno. Otherwise…it might not go well for him," Tseng glanced at Elena, "We're going to need you on this. Are you going to be up to it?" Elena set her jaw.

"I can handle it." _I'll save you no matter what._

_Author's Note: Short huh? I can't help it, I don't often have good writing days. Seriously, I just wrote a review for a story I was reading that was like...more than I write on my best day!!! =P And I like to listen to music while I write so I tend to get distracted and take frequent breaks to sing and dance. =P lol I'm fun like that. So hope you liked this chapter, remember to review or bad luck will follow you forever and a day. =P _


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: CHAPTER! I was going to post this last night, but then I realized it was really late and I was tired and didn't want to go to the trouble blah blah blah. Me being lazy basically. But it's here now! Sometimes when I write I feel like a bad person. =( Because of all the stuff I do to Reno. I'm just like, "How can you do that to him?" But I do. So whatever. I'm a bit sadistic in my writing...I warned you before and I was telling the truth. =P_

_Well, read this chapter, I hope it's longer than the last one. All the usual stuff, enjoy, review, etc. =) I love getting reviews. Especially from my regular reviewers. I post something and then just can't wait to see what those specific people have to say about it. =P Feel free to message me or whatever. I love talking to people. Especially people who love Reno. =) So yeah...read, review. Repeat. xD_

"Alright, Elena can you hear me?" Tseng's voice was quiet and fuzzy through the device in her ear.

"Clear enough," she replied, adjusting the tiny headset slightly. Holding her gun firmly, Elena waited in the shadows of a dark alley around a corner from the door she would enter through.

"How about you, Rude?" Tseng asked.

"Good to go," the other man answered. He was stationed on the other side of the building, set to go in through another entrance. Positioned on a nearby roof, Tseng watched all the entrances to the building. Anybody who left during the mission would most likely be sniped down.

"Perfect. Move out and keep in touch," Tseng ordered them off and the Turks wasted no time. Elena's palms were sweaty but she picked the lock in seconds anyway, running over the buildings blueprints in her head again and again. Slipping silently into the building, she put her back to a corner and took a quick check of her surroundings. No one in sight. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief. A security camera was mounted on the ceiling but she didn't worry about it. They'd already hacked the system and set all the cameras on a loop. She'd been disappointed not to see anything of Reno in the cameras but she kept telling herself that didn't mean anything. _They're probably guarding him manually._ There was a hall to her right, just like on the papers. She went down it, as quickly and quietly as she could, gun always ready in her hands.

Rude would be doing much the same on his side, only he was looking for stairs down while she was going up. Spying on the building for days had let them know that the gang's headquarters were mostly on the upper floors, the emptiness of the first few was supposedly to throw off suspicion. Elena crept cautiously up the half-lit stairwell, pausing to listen every now and then. Rude should be among the building's foundations by now, carefully setting explosives. It had been her idea to blow the whole place up. She glared up the stairs grimly. Whatever bastard had decided to take Reno would regret it in the moment he burned to a crisp.

Finally she was up the stairs. They'd plotted the most obscure route for her to take, hoping to avoid the more highly trafficked areas. It was unsure exactly how many were involved. Finding the small closet from the blueprints easily, Elena opened the door softly and hid behind it, leaving the door open the tiniest little bit.

"I'm in position," she whispered.

"Rude, are you set?" Tseng asked.

"Yeah. One second, Elena." There was silence for an agonizing minute and then several gunshots rang out. That was Rude, causing a distraction. _Please work, please, please, please…_Elena pleaded silently and then held her breath as running footsteps and voices reached her ears.

"What the hell was that?" one voice demanded.

"No idea, there's nothing on surveillance," another replied. Through the crack in the door, Elena saw a couple men run past her hiding place towards the stairs she had just come up. Only after their footsteps had completely receded and no more came, did she venture out of the closet and further down the hall. Hopefully most of the people present had responded to Rude's distraction and there would be minimal security up here.

She was so tense it was almost nauseating. _This is what you were trained for. You are the best. I promised I could handle it and I can!_ She concentrated on the thought of Reno depending on her. It helped to calm her nerves. Slinking around corners and peering behind doors, Elena searched swiftly for the red-head.

"Come on, Reno. Where are you?" She was stressing terribly. She had to find him soon. Rude's distraction wouldn't last forever. They'd be back up before long.

"It's ok, Elena. Stay calm," Tseng could clearly hear her beginning to panic, "You'll find him soon." She didn't answer, just kept looking. Checking around a corner, she sucked in her breath and pulled back.

"I might have found something," she whispered as softly as she could, "There's a big guy outside a door over here."

"Well take him down and check it out, but be careful," Tseng cautioned her. Taking a deep breath, Elena whirled around the corner, took aim, and shot. The man was down without a sound, a bullet through his head. With her back to a wall, she waited tensely. No voices shouted, no footsteps came running. She ran lightly over to the body, checked to be sure he was dead, and faced the door he'd been guarding. It seemed normal enough except for the large lock. Finding a key in the guard's pocket, she unlocked it and hesitated just for a second before pushing it open.

The room was dark, the half-light from the hall barely touching beyond the threshold. Elena's stomach churned uneasily as she felt on the wall for a light switch. There had to be one. She flicked the switch when she found it and a single bulb flickered to life. With a sharp intake of breath, she stared at the sight that met her eyes. Reno was slumped in the middle of the tiny room. Several ropes bound him to a chair and his wrists were tied behind his back. He was blindfolded and his jacket was gone. Blood, old and new, stained his otherwise white shirt.

A pang struck her heart. What had they done to him? Elena rushed towards him, not wanting him to be here a second longer. Reno flinched back sharply at her sudden approach. She was surprised for just a second before she realized he didn't know who it was. Her heart broke to see him cringing there, breathing heavily.

"Reno, it's ok," she spoke softly and reached out to remove the blindfold. He seemed to shrink away as soon as she touched him. Aquamarine eyes blinked up at her, adjusting to the light. Her heart jerked again at the pain on his face.

"Elena," it was more a sigh than speaking. He laid his head against her stomach. Tears came to her eyes as she felt him trembling. She stroked his hair for a minute before kneeling to untie the knots.

"Everything's ok now, Reno," Elena said comfortingly, "I've got you now and no one is going to hurt you anymore, I promise." She helped him up and slipped one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Can you walk?" He just nodded, but leaned on her heavily. His breaths were ragged and irregular.

"Tseng, I've got Reno. We're on our way out now."

"Good. You'll probably have company on the way, so be prepared. Rude's out, ready to detonate as soon as you guys are out," Tseng promptly replied. The two Turks made their way back towards the stairs, Elena supporting most of Reno's weight. She kept looking at him with concern. He was much paler than usual. His hair fell in front of his eyes, but he didn't bother to move it. Gasping slightly, he stumbled. Elena caught him with a hand on his chest.

"Come on, it's not too much farther. You can make it," she held on to Reno tighter, shuddering to see her hand was smeared with blood just from touching him. Footsteps approached around the corner.

"Ok, hang on a second, Reno," she helped him lean against the wall so she could pull out her gun and take aim. As soon as the men rounded the corner, Reno looked up. If it was possible, he went a few shades paler. Elena could feel him tense up and he trembled a little. Anger welled up inside as she saw his reaction to his captors. Turning back to the small stunned group fiercely, she fired several shots in quick succession. Every last one fell to the floor before they had a chance to go for their weapons.

"Alright, let's get you out of here." They made it down the stairs and out of the building with difficulty. By the time they met up with Rude in an alley behind the neighboring building, Reno was flickering in and out of consciousness.

Rude took one look at his friend and, with the click of a button, blew the building to pieces.

"Mission accomplished," he said to Tseng.

"Good, I'll be there in a minute." While they waited for Tseng, Elena held onto Reno tightly, keeping him on his feet as well as comforting him.

"He hasn't said a word," she whispered to Rude, "I'm worried." Rude just nodded, his face matching the concerned look on hers.

"The car's parked over here," Tseng came around the corner. Rude helped Elena with Reno, and before long they were heading back to the Shinra building. Tseng drove and Rude leaned around from the front seat to look at Reno. He had passed out completely now and was collapsed on the seat, his head on Elena's shoulder.

She had an arm around his shoulders and stroked his hair softly with one hand while the other carefully undid the buttons of his tattered and bloody shirt.

"Oh, Reno," Elena kissed his forehead and gently moved his shirt out of the way to inspect his wounds. His chest and abs were covered in still bleeding cuts, some small, others deep gashes. A large blue-black bruise stained his skin near his stomach. Elena poked it as carefully as she could. _Broken rib. Maybe more than one._

"I'm sorry, Reno," she said aloud as he winced and moaned, "He's hurt pretty badly, Tseng. We'd better take him to the hospital." She bit her lip as tears stung her eyes. He looked so thin; his ribs were clearly visible. Putting her arms around him, she held Reno close, her head laid on his.

_Author's Note: See why I might feel like a bad person when writing this? Oh well, it's all worth it in the end. I greatly look forward to reading everyone's reviews. Ok I just spent like 5 minutes clicking the keys in beat with the song I'm listening to. =P It's a really fun beat so I have an excuse. That's the kind of random person I am. lol Part of why I take so long to write anything. I get so easily distracted. And I have like a weird email-checking obsession. I can't let it sit for more than like 10 minutes without checking it. =P I'm special like that. But that's why people love me! Ok, so now that you guys are all like, "smile and back away slowly..." I will end my author's note. =P Read, review, repeat. xD_


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Note: I have posted another chapter!! I'm so tired right now, I could be dead. =P Seriously, I have these HUGE bags under my eyes and everything. I've almost fallen asleep like 15 times now. Luckily I hung on long enough to post this for you guys! xD Please enjoy this chapter. And please review! I really really really enjoy your reviews. I know more people read this than those that review because it tells me how many hits there are...I'm grateful that your reading, but if you could spare a line or two for a review-obsessed author that would be awesome. xD I want to take this moment to extend my deepest gratitude to my faithful reviewers, I know all of you by name and I wait upon each and every one of you to review before I really feel like I've got closure on my latest updates. =P I love you guys! So go ahead and read, it's more interesting than my note anyway. =P READ, REVIEW, REPEAT!!!_

"He's suffered significant physical damage. Lacerations, a few broken bones, blood loss, dehydration, and malnutrition." The doctor spoke to the three Turks seriously. Elena had been fighting tears the whole time. Waiting for the diagnosis had been torture. Even the normally stoic Rude had looked anxious. Elena was dying to go see Reno, but she wanted to hear what the doctor had to say.

"That's not all though," the man frowned and looked at his clipboard, "He's under-gone considerable mental trauma as well. He's sedated right now, but when he's conscious he panics. He doesn't realize where he is and he recoils when anyone comes near him. Whatever happened to him…" the man paused and looked up. When no explanation was given, he continued talking. "Whatever happened to him must have been …rough, to say the least. Ideally we would keep him here for a few days, but in the best interest of his mental health, I'm going to send him home. Is there someone who can stay with him?"

"I will," Elena said, rubbing her eyes. It was late and it had been a long day. After giving her detailed care instructions and a small pill bottle of pain medication, the doctor turned them over to a nurse who brought them to Reno. He lay there, clearly drowsy from the sedative, but still edgy. At the sound of the door, he jumped slightly, relaxing when he saw the Turks.

"How do you feel, Reno?" Elena took his hand and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"What? Oh…um…bad," his words were mumbled and he seemed far off and had trouble focusing on her. He flinched and panic entered his eyes when the nurse carefully took out the IV.

"Reno, it's ok," Elena put a hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her, "I'm right here. It's all over now." His aquamarine eyes locked with hers and he reached up and put a hand over hers. His breathing calmed slowly and eventually he closed his eyes and sighed. Softly rubbing the red mark on his cheek with her thumb, Elena looked over her shoulder at Tseng and Rude.

"You can take care of him by yourself?" Tseng questioned. Elena nodded.

"We're going to go back and make sure everything is taken care of," Rude said. The two Turks turned and left. Elena was watching them go when something made her turn back to Reno. A single tear had fallen and run into her finger.

"Reno," she whispered, feeling tears of her own coming. Bending down, she kissed him softly on the lips.

"Time to go home," Elena smiled and wiped his few tears away.

Reno was collapsed on his back on the bed, feet hanging off the edge. His head wasn't even on the pillow but his eyes were already half closed. He was exhausted. It had shown as he'd stumbled around even with her help and as he'd fumbled with his clothes when he was changing. Black sweatpants and a t-shirt were much more comfortable than the tattered work clothes he had been wearing.

"Do you want something to eat?" Elena stood next to the bed with a hand on his leg. Reno shook his head.

"Something to drink?" She wouldn't push the food yet, but he needed water. Reno turned to look at her now and shrugged. When she came back with a glass of water, he was struggling to sit up. Two broken ribs and a broken right wrist weren't helping.

"Careful, Reno," Elena sat down next to him and let him lean against her as he drained the glass. Putting the glass down, she hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're back," she whispered, "I was so worried all the time." In response, Reno leaned against her more heavily. Elena was totally content to just sit there with him forever, but he was falling asleep. She helped him lay down gently, before pulling blankets up over both of them. He rolled over onto his side, moving closer to her. Elena smiled and put an arm around him, resting her chin on the top of his head. Gazing out the window at the twinkling stars, she ran her fingers through his hair slowly. She could feel his breaths against her neck. They slowed as he slipped nearer and nearer to sleep.

Elena was startled when Reno's breath caught and he stiffened. After a second he sighed and relaxed slightly. Deciding not to mention it, she looked back up at the stars and rubbed his back, right in between the shoulder blades.

Just when he was drifting off for the second time, it happened again. It took longer for him to settle down this time, and he still felt tense for several minutes. When it happened a third time, Elena moved back to see his face.

"Are you ok?" she frowned with concern. Reno's eyes almost glowed in the dark as he looked up at her.

"No," he whispered, than looked away. There was silence.

"You're not going to tell me?"

"No," Reno whispered so quietly this time that she could barely hear him. The tone of his voice scared her a little. It was so…dead. It hurt to see him like this.

"I love you, Reno," she almost choked on the words, settling back into her earlier position, chin on top of his head and bit her lip. His eyes had seemed so empty. He shifted a bit to press a tiny kiss to her throat.

_Pain. And darkness. That was all there was. It had started the moment he woke up. He didn't even know how long ago that was. An hour? A year? Everything, including time, was gone, obliterated by pain and darkness. _

Reno came back from the edge of sleep with a start. The memories were lurking, just waiting to pounce the moment he dozed off. Sighing, he pushed everything out of his mind and tried to let blessed unawareness claim him.

_Sharp, biting, stinging pain and deep, dull, aching pain. Then there was another kind of pain, different entirely. It took over your whole body and mind, becoming the only thing you saw, heard, smelled, felt, tasted, until everything in you was screaming to stop it, whatever it took. Or was that fear? Or maybe the fear was so powerful it became actual pain. _

The thoughts wouldn't leave him alone, wouldn't let him rest. They'd come back, now that he was finally settling down. _Who am I kidding…_ they'd been there all along and they'd be there forever. There was no getting rid of them, the scars were there. Physical and mental.

_Blood. He remembered seeing that. The bright red splashes were the only thing he could really see, blinded by the sudden light that would occasionally break through the otherwise constant dark. It never lasted long enough for his eyes to adjust. Even if it had, would he really have wanted to be able to see what was being done to him? The blood he saw was enough, and the pain told him all he needed to know. _

"I love you, Reno." _I love you too._ The words were there, he just couldn't say them. In his mind they were drenched in blood. It was all he could see. Then, now, maybe forever. _Dammit, knock out already._ Being close to Elena was his only comfort. Everything else harassed him endlessly. Even his own mind had turned on him, tormenting him relentlessly with memories.

_A burst of fire erupted in his side as he was sent reeling to smash against a wall before crumpling to the ground. A scream tore through the air, the haunting sound bouncing back and replaying around him. Breathing was suddenly difficult and every gasp sent spikes of pain through his side. _

As image after image rolled through his head, Reno squeezed his eyes shut as if to block it out. The horrifying cry of pain still echoed in his ears. With a groan, he pressed down on the bed hard, ignoring the protests from his battered body. Had he really made that terrible noise? He was shaking now as that over-powering fear gripped him again. It was all over, but every moment lived on and repeated itself in his mind.

"Reno," Elena's voice was worried and distressed, "Reno, it's ok, I promise." She slipped down so her eyes were level with his and wrapped her arms around him protectively. Kissing him softly every so often, she held him close until he stopped shaking. She could feel his breaths calming and she looked anxiously into his eyes. They weren't empty now. They were full. Full of pain, fear, and…and love.

"It hurts to see you like this," her voice was stressed, "Is there anything I can do to make it better?" Reno shook his head, glancing away.

"Just stay here with me, don't ever leave," his voice broke.

"I'll always be right next to you, Reno." The pain and fear in his eyes lessened slightly and he leaned in to kiss her lips. He settled down to sleep, his forehead pressed against Elena's and his nose just brushing hers. She hummed a tune her mother had sung to her when she was a girl, and alternated between twisting her fingers gently in his hair and stroking his face delicately. By the end of the song, Reno was sleeping easily, his chest rising and falling steadily.

_Author's Note: Not to be conceited or anything, but I kind of thought this chapter kicked ass. =P Especially considering that the majority of it was written past midnight or when I was between sleeping and waking. So if you don't agree, that's too bad but I thought it was awesome. And that's all that really matters isn't it?? Well, I guess in theory, but I care tremendously what you guys think. So review and tell me what you think! xD _


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: I seem to be experiencing slight writer's block. I did my best to write anyway. If there's one thing I am it's stubborn. =P So I did. lol. I think when I've finished writing this I'll go back and edit/revise. Not majorly, but I don't even read what I write. I write and then I post. I don't think I've gone over anything I've writen. I'm sure I'd find something to make better if I did. =P So yeah...I intend to write more stories too, but I don't know if I'll go for another long one just yet. I think I'll try some oneshots, maybe some songfics. Music is very near and dear to my heart. =) So we'll see. xD Not that I'm near the end yet...there's still a good bit left...I'm definately closer to the end than the beginning though. So enough random chatter! Read away! *end Author's Note*_

_He was falling. He didn't know where he was and he couldn't see a thing through the swirling fog that surrounded him. The one thing he knew was that he was falling. It was cold and completely silent, until a whispering voice rose softly from the depths. He couldn't understand it but it grew slowly, eventually reaching an enraged roar that whipped around him like wind. It's words were knives, slashing at him constantly. Shadowy figures, in a ring around him, were visible for brief moments until the whirling fog enshrouded them again. The voice and the words were familiar; he'd heard them before. It reminded him of pain. An invisible hand grasped his wrist with and icy grip. All at once the memory struck him, crashing over him like a wave. What little there had been around him disappeared and instead he was in the water, staring up at a massive wave seconds away from hitting him. He cried out as it hit him. Submerged completely, he stared in horror as the water slowly turned to blood._

A quiet cry woke Elena up. She was confused for moment before she noticed Reno, still asleep, but panting heavily with a troubled look on his face. He'd rolled away from her at some point and was laying on his back. She reached over to touch his shoulder. Frowning, she noticed he was much warmer than he should be.

"Hey, Reno, wake up," Elena shook his shoulder. He didn't respond, just muttered something indecipherable. "Reno, wake up," she spoke louder this time, shaking him harder. His eyes snapped open and he stared at her, frantic until he recognized her. Taking a shaky breath, he looked up at the ceiling.

"Bad dream?" Elena asked softly. Reno nodded, still trying to steady his breathing, pressing a hand over his broken ribs. Moving closer, she laid her head next to his and rubbed his arm. The sun was just coming up, making the room glow slightly. They lay there in silence for awhile.

"I'm going to make some breakfast," Elena propped herself up on her elbows and smiled at him, "Do you want to come and sit on the couch?" _I don't want to leave him by himself. Not in this state._

Reno shrugged and slipped his feet out of bed, wavering only a little as he stood up. He didn't stumble much at all, but Elena walked right next to him the whole time anyway. After seeing him settled on the couch with a blanket and pillow, she headed into the open kitchen to cook something.

Reno was curled up on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. His dream still clung to him, unwilling to let him go. Looking down at his tightly bandaged right wrist, he remembered the icy grip. Shuddering, he tried to backtrack his thoughts before another memory stirred to life. Despair swallowed him as he accepted failure, feeling the dark fingers of another suppressed remembrance curl around his mind.

_A cold voice spoke quietly to him, the monotonous tone strange paired with the hatred and anger in the words. The man seethed inside, he could tell just from the grip on his wrist. His stomach lurched and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead when his arm was stretched out in front of him. He couldn't see anything, even though there was light, he was still blindfolded. The man held right below Reno's elbow firmly and then, with a cruel and mirthless laugh, grabbed Reno's hand and fingers in a crushing grip. He was too weak to pull away, even if he hadn't been too afraid of what they would do to him if he did. Nothing happened for quite some time, making him beyond anxious. Every sense was on overdrive, waiting for a sign of what was to happen. It came suddenly. Something hard smashed down on his wrist with incredible speed and strength. A loud, sickening crack split the air._

"Reno?" Elena said his name for the third time, walking over to the couch. He was laying there just as she'd left him, staring off at nothing it seemed.

"Reno?" she asked again, leaning over the back of the couch to touch his arm. As soon as she touched him, he snapped out of it and looked up at her. Elena's next words caught in her throat at the disturbed look in his eyes. Knowing he wouldn't tell her even if she asked, she sighed.

"You have to take more pain medication now," she handed him the few pills and a glass of water. She smiled and brushed the hair out of his eyes once he took the things from her hands.

Heading back into the kitchen, her smile faded quickly. It broke her heart to watch him go through this and she didn't know any way to help him. _He won't even tell me anything._

Reno hardly ate anything. Watching him closely, Elena sighed.

"Aren't you hungry?" He just shrugged in response. Her next statement was cut off by her phone ringing.

"Hey, Tseng," she listened and then replied, "Yeah, I figured I'd be staying home today." She was quiet for a bit and then looked up from her plate to Reno. "Um, he's doing ok, I guess." At the glumness in her voice, Reno glanced up at her. _She's worried. Don't want her to worry._ He smiled at her, a little of his usual devilishness creeping into the grin. His effort was rewarded with a huge, happy smile from Elena. "Ok, I'll call you later. Bye."

"So Tseng's letting me have the day off," she leaned forward, chin resting on her hand, "What do you want to do?" Reno got half-way through a shrug and then stopped.

"I wanna watch a movie," he said firmly, "I wanna sit on the couch all day and do nothing productive at all." Giving a satisfied nod, he settled down on the couch and looked at her expectantly.

"Ok, we'll watch a movie," Elena smiled to herself as she glanced over the movies scattered around a shelf in the corner, "What movie do you want to watch?"

"Don't care." Elena searched through stack after stack of DVDs, most of which were grossly violent and gore-filled. _Not the best theme right now,_ she thought, glancing uneasily at Reno. She grabbed a movie she'd been forced to watch by herself the week before.

"How about a chick-flick?" she cringed in preparation for his response. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Oh, what the hell. Whatever, we'll watch your sappy movie, Elena." Grinning, she put the movie in and sat down.

"It's cute!" she cuddled up to him, placing a hand on his chest, careful to avoid brushing any of his cuts. They watched the opening credits in silence.

"Hey," Reno poked her.

"What?" she leaned her head back to look up at him. His usually sparkling clear aquamarine eyes were troubled.

"There's nothing….uh," he glanced away, looking almost embarrassed, "Uh, nothing bloody, is there?"

"No, there's not," she smiled and kissed his shoulder before turning back to the movie.

Reno watched the movie, only mildly interested. He was more entertained by messing with Elena's hair, trying to make it stand up in places, or pushing it all over to one side until she slapped his hands away. About half-way through the movie, he started to doze off. In that half conscious state, he felt the cold, dark memories creeping up, ready to haunt him again. _Damn!_ Feeling himself being pulled down, he panicked and reached for something to hold on to. Wrapping his arms around Elena, he buried his face in her shoulder.

"Reno, are you alright?" startled by his sudden move, she hugged him back. He didn't answer, just took several deep breaths. _She smells good. _Concentrating hard, he managed to shove the haunting memories away, sighing in relief. After a minute he answered, still holding her tightly.

"I'm fine now," his voice was muffled in her shoulder. He turned so he could see the TV, forehead pressed against her neck. Suddenly going completely limp against her, he pushed them both down on the couch.

"I'm going to sleep," he said with an exaggerated yawn, stretching out his long legs.

Elena struggled to get up, but gave in. Reno was holding her down too well. His eyes were closed, but the ghost of a grin was on his face.

"Oh, so I'm your teddy bear now, Reno?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

Elena couldn't help but smile. Bemused, she tried to find a comfortable position. This was almost impossible since Reno was half on top of her and a deadweight. She managed to turn over onto her back, which helped. Once she was settled, he shifted, laying his head on her chest, right under her chin. He put an arm over her, setting his bandaged wrist flat on the couch carefully.

Within minutes, Reno was asleep. Elena kept watching the movie, her fingertips rubbing between his shoulder blades.

Towards the end, he started to stir. Looking down at him as best she could, she noticed he was frowning. His breaths were shallow and faster than they should be. He started muttering things she couldn't understand. _Nightmare._

"Wake up, Reno," she shook him gently. His eyes snapped open and he jerked his head up, wincing as he leaned too much on his broken wrist.

"Oh," his face twitched into a clearly forced grin, "Just a dream." He put his head back down, still tense.

"You'll be ok," Elena's eyes filled with tears. She felt so useless. She didn't know any way to help him.

"I know," Reno's voice was surprisingly calm, "I'll always be ok as long as I've got you." The quiet sincerity in his voice demolished her determination not to cry and tears ran down her face. Not trusting her voice, she lifted his head up and kissed him tenderly.

_Author's Note: How was that? Leave a review and tell me. xD Thanks to all of you who did review. I love each and every review. All those faithful reviewers have a special place in my heart. xD Yes, there is room for more than Reno. lol. So read, review, repeat! Also, go read "The Reno Diet" by renoxxxXXXxxx. It's amazing. I'm in the middle of it right now and it's hysterical! xD DON'T STOP READING MY STORY THOUGH! lol. xD Happy Easter everyone. I doubt I'll have enough to post again before Sunday so...there ya go! xD_


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: I'M BACK!! Actually I was back Saturday, but I didn't have enough to post until tonight. xD So I hope none of you lost hope and gave up on this because if I were to lose some of my precious readers I would cry! =P Well here is my new chapter...read it, review it, love it. xD OOOOO! Ok, I just tried these chocolates which are AMAZING!!! They are Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Truffles!!! They are SO GOOD!!! AH! =P So yes. I don't have much to say right now actually...um so I'm just gonna let you guys read! Let me know what you think! xD_

"Ready?" Elena stood by the door and glanced back at Reno who was pulling on his jacket. It had only been a week and he still wasn't feeling well but Tseng needed Elena back at work and she didn't want to leave him alone. Reno hadn't brought up any complaints when she'd suggested he come with her.

"Ready," he replied, taking her hand.

When they came in, Rude looked up and smiled seeing Reno. Tseng came out of his office and crossed his arms.

"There's still some paperwork for you," Tseng said, but he was smiling and his face was gentler than usual.

"Can't," the redhead replied, his trademark smirk back, "Wrist's broken." He waved his heavily bandaged hand in the air weakly.

"You're left-handed," Tseng said flatly, turning to go back into his office, "Good to have you back."

"Hey, man," Reno grinned at Rude, flopping down in his chair, "Boring as hell around here without me right?" Rude just snorted and continued his work. Elena sat at her desk and gave her mountain of built-up paperwork a determined stare.

After getting through several files, Elena glanced over at Reno. He was sitting in his chair, asleep, legs stretching out under his desk. He was doing better, though he still didn't have any where near all his energy back. He slept peacefully again as long as she was close by. With a sigh, Elena turned back to her work making a mental note to get some tempting food. Reno was skinny enough normally but now he was downright gaunt. His legendary appetite wasn't completely recovered yet either.

"Hey, Tseng," Elena poked her head into his office, "Can we leave early? Reno's been sleeping most of the afternoon but he's starting to look tired anyway."

"Sure. Are you two coming in tomorrow?"

"See you then," Elena nodded and waved.

"Come on, Reno, we're leaving early," she said, standing by his desk. He looked up from the pens he was playing with and smiled.

"Tseng's letting us go!" he jumped up and went out the door quickly, waving to Rude. Calling bye over her shoulder, she followed him out. Reno was paused in the hall, wincing, with a hand pressed over his broken ribs.

"Moved too fast," he muttered, "Dammit." He was careful to walk slowly after that, although it turned into more of a shuffle. He looked so comical, bending over slightly and shuffling along slowly, Elena couldn't help but chuckle.

"What the hell's so funny?" Reno glared at her, "Stop laughin' at me! I'm injured."

"Aw, I'm sorry," she tried to stop laughing, his dramatically hurt tone was making it hard, "Here, let me help you." Still trying to stifle her laughter, she pulled his arm over her shoulders and put her arm around him. The 'help' was entirely unnecessary but if he was going to exaggerate then so would she.

When they got home, Reno collapsed on the couch at once. His eyes were closed and his head was laid back so Elena quietly went and changed into sweatpants and a tank top before heading back to the kitchen to get something to eat. As she walked past, he picked his head up and grinned at her.

"Hey, Elena. I thought of something that would make me feel better." His tone was unmistakable.

"Oh, you did?" Changing course, Elena made her way over to the couch and settled herself on his lap, putting her arms around his neck, "And what might that be?"

"Wait and see," his lips brushed against hers as he barely gave himself time to finish talking before kissing her deeply.

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Reno slunk stealthily around the corner, grinning down the scope of his gun as he saw exactly what he was hoping to see. _Gotcha. _He squeezed the trigger and watched Rude jump when the red paint splattered on the back of his suit. Rude turned quickly, ducking behind file cabinet and fired several shots in quick succession back at Reno. Laughing, the redhead jumped back behind his corner, just barely missing the barrage of green paintballs that were now dripping down the wall.

"Missed me!" he called, running down the hall as Rude came after him. Dashing past Tseng's office, he pulled out a small pistol and fired into the open door just in case the man was in. A shout told him it was a good assumption. Running backwards, Reno grinned wickedly and waved as Tseng burst out of his office just as Rude skidded around the corner down the hall. Putting on a burst of speed, Reno turned around and bolted down a new hallway. He slipped into his office and held his breath waiting for them to run past.

_Losers._ He left his office and crept quietly after them, peering around the corner to see where they'd gone. Something rolled against his feet and he looked down to see a hand grenade. _Shit!_ He didn't have time to jump back before a fountain of yellow paint exploded all over him.

Wiping his face on his sleeve, Reno glanced around, spotting Elena's slight figure just disappearing into a closet. _Can't hide that easy!_ Smiling hugely, he took several grenades of his own out of his pockets. He opened the door, pulled the pins, threw all the grenades into the closet, and closed the door in one smooth motion. Leaning against the door, he smirked when he heard her scream.

"Reno!" He backed away from the door as she slammed it open and glared at him. There was hardly a spot on her that wasn't covered in bright red pain. Reno burst into hysterical laughter and tried to run, but she was ready. Tackling him to the ground, Elena rubbed as much of the paint off on him as she could.

"Hey, stop it," he gasped out, out of breath from laughing. Elena didn't pay any attention to him until he pressed a hand over his ribs.

"Are you ok? Am I hurting you?" she quickly got off of him and knelt on the ground, watching him with concern.

"I'm good," Reno finally got control over his breathing, "It just hurt a little." It had been many weeks since they'd rescued him and he was mostly recovered. The bones he'd broken still gave him trouble from time to time but they would soon be just as good as ever. Elena bent to kiss him but was interrupted as both of them were hit with several shots of blue and green as Tseng and Rude opened fire from the end of the hall.

Shouting and avoiding the paint as best they could, Reno and Elena ran in the other direction. She grabbed his hand and dragged him around a corner sharply.

Glancing back at him briefly, her smile slipped away. He still hadn't spoken about, or even hinted at what at happened to him. He hadn't had a nightmare for days, but every now and then one still woke him in the middle of the night. It was happening more and more rarely though, which was comforting.

"This way!" An elevator had just opened, and the two Turks dashed in. The Shinra employee who had just stepped out, gave them a confused stare. Reno quickly pushed a random floor and reloaded his guns while the elevator rose smoothly.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked, taking the opportunity to reload her own guns as well.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "But if we don't even know where we're headed, it will be that much harder for them to predict our movements."

"Um, who cleans this all up?" something struck her as she looked down at her red footprints, just imagining all the paint on the floor they had just been on.

"Whoever's covered in the most paint by the end of the day," Reno smirked and looked her up and down, "Currently that's you." Elena groaned and leaned against the wall. Seconds later she gasped and jerked away, looking with despair at the large red splotch she'd left behind her.

The elevator doors slid open and they took off again, picking a random direction. They sprinted down halls, making split-second choices at every intersection until they came across a dead end with nothing but several doors. Pausing for no more than a breath, Reno jerked one open and they went in, closing it behind them and leaning against the wall laughing and breathing heavily. Reno looked around and in an instant his smile left.

"Oh shit, Elena," he was almost whispering, "We're-"

"In my lab, yes." A cold voice interrupted him as Professor Hojo stood glaring at them. Reno had been reaching for the door handle, but stopped and turned to face the man.

"Yeah, um, we were just lost, but we'll be going now so sorry for disturbing you," the redhead grabbed Elena's arm tightly and turned back toward the door.

"Wait a moment," Hojo took a few steps closer and scrutinized them both carefully. Reno nudged Elena behind him and crossed his arms, staring right back at the Professor.

"What?"

"You're from the Turks, right?" he smiled a mirthless smile. Reno nodded.

"What's it to you?" Hojo just smiled bigger and rubbed his chin.

"Nothing, just go. You're interrupting my work," the man focused his attention on a piece of equipment in front of him and began muttering softly, never ceasing his cruel smile. The two Turks left as quickly and quietly as they could.

"Damn, that guy creeps me out," Reno said once they were safely in another hallway. Elena nodded.

"He's the perfect example of a mad scientist," she said, "I don't know if anyone even knows what he's working on half the time. Honestly, I'd rather not know."

"Agreed."

Gathered in Tseng's office a few hours later, the Turks were attempting to discern who was the most paint splattered.

"I vote Elena," Reno said loudly.

"Traitor!" she pouted at him.

"I don't know…" Rude examined them both closely, "I think we got you pretty good too, Reno."

"I would definitely say they are both even," Tseng declared calmly, "Have fun guys. Make sure you are on time tomorrow morning, you have a mission." With an uncharacteristic smirk, he grabbed his coat and left, Rude following quickly with a sympathetic look.

"Bastards," Reno muttered, crossing his arms and sulking.

"Bastards," Reno said under his breath. Elena smiled. He was half-asleep and still cursing them. Glancing at the clock, she decided it was time to get him up.

"Reno, wake up," she rubbed his bare back gently. Reno groaned and cracked one eye open.

"Do I _have_ to go work?"

"Yes, Tseng wants us to be on time today so get up," she kissed his cheek dramatically and hopped out of bed to get ready.

"Screw Tseng," Reno sighed but eventually dragged himself out of bed.

Reno yawned, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

"Reno!" Elena shouted, coming up behind him and hopping onto his back. He leaned forward slightly to help her stay on and turned his head.

"What?" he blinked sleepily.

"I love you," she smiled happily and hugged him, peering over his shoulder to finish buttoning up his shirt.

"Love you too."

_Author's Note: So that's all I've got right now. Hope it was enjoyable. xD Remember to review! I love hearing from each and every one of you. At least those who review! I actually remember all your usernames, and I notice if one of you hasn't reviewed a chapter or not...at least for those of you who review every chapter, or every other chapter or stuff like that. xD BTW, I am open for suggestions. I pretty much know where I'm going with this, so I probably wouldn't want any major plot twist suggestions even though this story doesn't have much of a central plot other than relationship development. But any random thing you might want to see shouldn't be too hard to work in. xD And if I can't work it in this story, I can always file it away in my head and let you know if I will use it in another story! So whatever. Hope this was a good chapter, I had AWFUL writer's block last night. I wrote like a paragraph and that was it! =( I'm doing better tonight although not right now obviously because I'm spending all this time on an Author's Note! xD I'm gonna shut up now. =P _


	19. Chapter 19

_Author's Note: Sorry about the shortness, but I had TWO bad writing nights since my last post, so the length suffered. =( But I wanted to post so...I don't think anyone will be complaining. xD_

Tseng was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed staring angrily at the ceiling when Elena and Reno came in.

"Get them down, Reno," Tseng glared at the redhead, "I don't understand why you have to be so childish." With that he went into his office, slamming the door behind him. Elena watched him go, confused, and then looked up at the ceiling. Every last pen and pencil any of them had was taped to the ceiling.

"Is this what you were doing when I was cleaning the elevator?" she looked at Reno who was smirking, clearly very proud of himself. He nodded. Elena looked back up at the pens and started to smile. _That's Reno._

"Well you'd better get them down then."

When Rude walked in minutes later, Reno was standing on a swivel chair, pulling pens and pencils down from the ceiling. Rude just paused to observe for a moment before going to his desk. They were all used to Reno's random ideas.

"Dammit!" The chair slipped out from under him and he hit the floor with a thud for the third time.

"Why don't you just go get a normal chair or something?" Elena didn't even bother looking to make sure he was ok this time.

"I'm gonna do it my way! And you're going to cooperate!" This last part was yelled at the chair, as Reno climbed back on.

Two more falls and countless curses later, all the pens and pencils were safely back in the hands of their rightful owners. Reno was sitting with his feet propped up on his desk.

"Tseng!" he called, drawing the word out. There was absolute silence. Reno waited a few seconds before trying again.

"Tseng!" He kept calling, waiting about ten seconds between each shout until after several minutes Tseng finally came out of his office.

"What?" He looked very ready to strangle Reno on the spot. Reno grinned.

"Oh hey. You said you had a mission for Elena and me."

"Right, both of you come in here," he disappeared back into his office, followed by Reno and Elena. Pulling a file off his desk, Tseng handed it to Elena.

"It's just a bit of espionage, possibly a simple theft. Apparently a business transaction was recently completed between Shinra and a rather shady group. No paperwork was to be kept on file for this, but the President doesn't trust their word alone. Here's the address and some additional information, just get in somehow and check for any files that shouldn't be there. If you find anything, bring it back."

"Yes, sir," Elena turned to go briskly, Reno following at a much slower amble.

The building that housed the company was rundown and in a barely respectable section of the city. Safely out of sight around a corner, Elena glanced over the blueprints of the building Tseng had given them.

"According to this, they keep their files in two different places. Some are in the manager's office, and some are in this room over here." Reno watched over her shoulder as she pointed to different spots on the paper while she spoke.

"I'll check those if you check the files in the office," Reno said, "Hopefully whoever belongs in that office is out for lunch. I wish we were out for lunch."

"We can be soon enough. Let's go." The two Turks found a back door to the building and had the lock picked in moments. Walking cautiously down the empty hallways, they soon reached where their paths split. Reno turned into a room full of file cabinets with a mock salute as Elena continued walking.

Keeping ears open for any noise that could signal someone approaching, she found the door to the office. Listening intently, she determined it was empty. _So far, so good._ Trying the knob, she discovered it wasn't even locked. Laughing wickedly inside, she was almost sorry it was so easy. Elena eased the door closed behind her and looked around. The shabby office didn't have much other than a desk, a chair, and several file cabinets. Going over to them, she started flipping through the files, looking for anything that might need to be taken care of.

Not many minutes passed before she found a file marked simply 'Shinra'. Pulling it out and tucking it under her arm, she finished going through the files quickly, just in case there was more than one. She turned and headed for the door. Something in the corner of the ceiling caught her eye. _Shit, a camera. _As if on cue, she heard swift footsteps coming up the hall. Thinking quickly, Elena backed against the wall next to the door. Chances were, they would burst in, ready to pounce and she could just slip out behind them.

Her plan proved a good one, as several burly men almost ripped the door open and poured in, leaving the doorway free for Elena to dash out. The man closest saw her, and just managed to grab her arm. With a swift punch to the jaw she broke away and took off. _Dammit, Elena! Everything was going so well!_

Glancing behind her, she saw her pursuers, one much closer than was comfortable. Deciding to surprise him, she stopped and spun around to deliver a powerful kick to the chest, and then kept running. The man stumbled backward, colliding with the others and effectively tripping them all. She couldn't help but admire her work and ran backwards just long enough to give them all the finger. Facing forward again, she saw Reno, standing in the doorway of the room he'd been in.

"That's my girl," he grinned and fell into step beside her.

"Here's the file, Tseng," Elena slammed it down on the desk proudly.

"Good job," Tseng looked up and smiled, "Here." A fat file was placed in her hands.

"No," Reno groaned, "Even something as simple as this has paperwork? This is torture, Tseng!" The man just shrugged.

"Not my rules. If you spent as much time working as you did complaining, you'd have it all done."

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have any fun," Reno grinned and left before Tseng could say anything. He just rolled his eyes and went back to work as Elena walked out after Reno.

"Hey, Elena," Reno's voice was low and coaxing as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and setting his chin on her shoulder, "Ice cream, huh?" Elena put another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and nodded.

"Bet that's very yummy. Yup…delicious," Reno continued. Elena tried hard not to smile. She knew exactly what he was up to. He was quiet for a minute but soon started talking again.

"I really like ice cream." Silence. "Ice cream is soooo good." Finally Reno just opened his mouth wide and stared at her bowl.

"You're too damn cute, Reno!" Elena laughed and stuck a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

"I know," he said, licking his lips, "You wanna finish that ice cream later?" His tone turned playful and teasing as his long fingers slowly worked their way up from the bottom of her shirt, undoing the buttons one by one.

"Mm, I could be persuaded," Elena leaned back into him and put her bowl down on the counter. Turning in his arms, she took his face in her hands and stood up on her tip-toes to kiss him. Never breaking their kiss, Reno picked her up and carried her out of the kitchen. Elena wrapped her legs around his waist and tilted his head up, kissing him deeper. Halfway down the hall, he stopped walking and pushed her against the wall to kiss her passionately, arms hooked under her legs, holding her up. A finger lazily traced a squiggle up the back of her thigh, fingering the edge of her short shorts. Pushing off the wall, he kept carrying her down the hall.

Kicking open the bedroom door, Reno leaned forward, dropping her gently on the edge of the bed. On his hands and knees between her legs, with a hand on either side of her head, he kissed her, moving down her neck but coming back up to her mouth every now and then. Elena rubbed against him, almost ripping the buttons off his shirt to bare his chest.

_Author's Note: Any complaints? Anyone? Anyone? No? Ok. =) lol. I'm SOOOO tired. Work was INSANE today. I don't think I stood still for 5 minutes all afternoon! And that's 5 minutes TOTAL. Not 5 consecutive minutes. T_T Oh well. I don't mind. =P Thanks for reading! Remember to review. I live off reviews! =)_


	20. Chapter 20

_Author's Note: Ok, so this isn't a big chapter either, but I just had to cut if off there!! So deal with it. xD Be happy I'm even posting because my life is ridiculously insane right now and will be for at least another week. =( Thanks to everyone for reading, special thanks to my reviewers. _

_Actually, Laney!!! (faithful reviewer for those of you who don't know xD) I can understand your English, it's great! I can't reply to your reviews though because they are anonymous. If you have an account, sign in to review so I can reply. =) Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

Elena breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent of his skin as she snuggled up closer. She heard him sigh contentedly and he held her tighter. Both of them were awake, but neither said a word. They didn't need to. It was enough to just be together. Elena ran a finger slowly up and down his arm, tracing the muscles.

"We should probably get going," Reno finally said reluctantly, "Me and Rude have a mission today and Tseng threatened me not to be late like a hundred times. I plan on walking in the door exactly sixty seconds late." Elena laughed and reached up to kiss his chin.

"I love you, Reno." He grinned.

"I know, I'm awesome like that."

When Reno and Elena walked in, Tseng was standing in his doorway frowning at the phone in his hand.

"Reno, why do you keep texting me ransom notes?" Tseng looked up, annoyance clearly showing on his face. Reno shrugged and smiled.

"I dunno. Felt like it."

"Whatever. I want you and Rude in my office now." With this, Tseng turned and walked into his office, slipping the cell into his pocket. Grinning at Elena, Reno followed Rude in.

About fifteen minutes later, Reno came back and dropped into his chair, crossing his arms and frowning.

"What's the matter?" Elena asked, clicking a pen open.

"Stupid mission's going to take like two freakin days," Reno glared at the desk in front of him.

"So you're upset because you're going to have to actually be doing something for more than ten minutes at a time?" Elena smirked as Reno turned to look at her.

"I get no sympathy," he muttered, turning back to his desk.

Rude came out of Tseng's office and collected various guns and explosives before giving Reno an expectant look and walking out the door. Reno hopped up, grabbing what he needed.

"Bye, miss you," he gave her a quick kiss before running after Rude.

The room was incredibly quiet without Reno. Elena kept looking up, expecting to see him sitting at his desk plotting something devious. The room was empty though except for her.

"Time to go, Elena," Tseng came out of his office, closing the door behind him.

"I'll go in a bit, I'm going to finish this first," she looked up with a smile and gestured toward the moderate stack of files next to her. She was taking the opportunity to catch up on some of Reno's paperwork for him since he wasn't there to protest.

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Tseng gave a small wave as he left.

Elena yawned and stretched her arms above her head, putting her pen down to flex her fingers first. Glancing at the clock while she took a sip of water from the glass on her desk, she realized she'd stayed a couple extra hours. _I'll just finish this one._ She picked up the pen and went back to work. _Although why hurry? What do I have to get home to? _Maybe she'd watch a movie or something.

A sound from the hall caught her attention. She tensed up slightly. No one but the Turks normally walked these halls during the day, much less at night. Professor Hojo walked suddenly through the door. In the space of a second, Elena relaxed seeing the familiar face, but then stiffened again. _Hojo? What is he doing here?_

"Uh, can I help you?" Elena internally cringed to hear the obvious unwelcome in her voice. _It's not my fault! He surprised me._ She gave up regretting it when the man smiled his cruel smile and approached her desk. _He deserves it. He's weird. _

"Yes, you can, in a way," he said, laying a hand on the edge of her desk, "Where is Tseng?"

"He's not in right now. Why?" She looked away awkwardly, fiddling with her pen and the papers on her desk. Looking at that twisted smile made her skin crawl.

"I had some security related questions. They can wait."

"Oh," Elena turned back to see Hojo's arm fall back to his side. The man walked out of the room without saying another word. _That was strange._ Elena blew it off with a shrug and took another sip of water before returning to the paperwork in front of her.

In about half an hour she had the last file neatly done. She drained the last drops from her plastic cup and tossed it in the trash before turning off her computer and heading out the door. She yawned in the elevator and rubbed her eyes. She was more tired than she thought.

She stepped out of the elevator in the lobby, her eyelids drooping. Suddenly a wave of fatigue hit her and she slowly sunk against the wall. _What's wrong with me?_ Her sluggish brain tried to analyze what was going on, but wasn't getting anywhere. As she slid to the floor, her eyes closed even though she strained to keep them open. The last thing she saw was Professor Hojo's cruel smile as he stepped out of the elevator and stood over her. Mirthless laughter rang in her ears as unnatural sleep dragged her down.

_Author's Note: *gasp* So not as great of an ending as last update's huh? =P lol. It is good too, just in a different way! So I've got to run, I have only like an hour to write before I have to sleep. So review and let me know what you think. xD THANKS FOR READING!!!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Author's Note: Ok, so I know this is a really short chapter and I know it's been a while since I updated, but I swear I have not forgotten about this story! I was having some really bad writer's block, and then I figured out the problem which was actually something about the plot that I didn't like, but I fixed it (hopefully) and I'm good now. xD So I'm going to settle down and WRITE! Right now I'm really tired but I'm going to write as much as I can before I pass out. =P My feet hurt SO BAD!!! I was in heels from 10 this morning until 5 this evening...so you can imagine. Those of you who wear heels. xD Anyway...hope you enjoy the chapter, sorry for leaving you on that cliff hanger...=P Read, review, repeat! lols_

The first thing Elena felt was unease. As she woke up, she noticed one thing after another that was wrong. She was cold, sore, the bed was hard, and where was Reno? Her eyes slowly fluttered open, looking around her strange surroundings with confusion before her brain caught up and it all clicked. Hojo! Sitting up quickly, she discovered she was certainly not at home in bed. Instead she was in a cage.

Jumping to her feet, she took a defensive stance while examining her position. _This is honestly a cage._ Once she ascertained that there was no immediate danger, Elena forcefully relaxed herself._ Never panic._ Her Turk-training would serve her well. Remaining constantly alert to catch any sound or movement, she looked around her cell. The lock, bars, and floor were all sturdy. She searched through her pockets quickly, looking for anything that could be of use. They were all empty. Hojo must have gone through them already. _Well, you got me good. _Elena stood by the bars, looking around outside her cage. _How long until someone notices I'm gone? They'll find me. Just have to deal with Hojo until then. _

The rest of the small room was filled with cages like hers, all different sizes. All were empty. Elena didn't know whether to be encouraged or frightened by this. While she was standing there, a metal door on the other side of the room clanked open and Professor Hojo came in.

"I see you are awake," he stood before her looking self-satisfied, keeping his distance from the bars as she glared at him.

"What the hell, Hojo," Elena crossed her arms and did her best to look intimidating from behind bars, "Are you insane? What's going on?"

"Ah, yes. I knew you'd be curious," the man rubbed his hands together and began to pace as he explained, "I've been working on something…a particular experiment. I need to test it, and I need someone very particular to test it on."

"So you're using me like a guinea pig?" Elena grabbed the bars and practically yelled at him, enraged and totally creeped out.

"Not you," Hojo paused in his pacing to turn and give her a twisted smile, "You're only bait. I need someone with naturally more…strength if you will. A Turk you may be, but you're still a woman." With a sigh, Hojo continued pacing. "The big one would have been ideal, but the red-head will do."

"Wait," Elena reached out and grabbed Hojo's sleeve as the man began to walk away, "What are you going to do to Reno?"

"You'll find out when he comes to 'rescue' you." With a cruel chuckle, he jerked his sleeve away and left, slamming the door behind him.

Watching him go, Elena's heart sunk and she began going over every inch of her cell desperately. _I have to find a way out before Reno gets into trouble._

Tseng glanced around the room with a frown before checking the clock one more time. Elena had never been late before, and definitely not by a few hours. He decided to call her. He became even more concerned when she didn't answer. He left a message and went back to his work, only paying half attention.

By early afternoon, Tseng still hadn't heard from her even though he'd tried calling several more times. Finally giving up on his work, he got up and went to the apartment she shared with Reno to see if she was sick or something. Tseng picked the lock when no one answered his knocks. _Something must have happened to her._ The apartment was completely empty.

"That's it," Tseng muttered, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"What?" Reno answered, sounding incredibly bored, "We're kind of in the middle of something."

"Elena's missing."

"What?!" This time Reno sounded anything but bored. "What the hell happened? Where is she? How'd you let that happen?"

"I don't know where she is, Reno. If I did would I have told you she was missing? I have no idea what happened and it's not my fault. The last I saw of her she was staying late to finish your overdue paperwork."

"Damn. Ok, screw this, I'm coming home right now. Rude says he'll stay and finish up here. If anything's happened to her…" he couldn't finish the sentence, instead he swore again and hung up.

"How can she just have disappeared? She wasn't going anywhere was she?" Reno sat in Elena's chair, his head in his hands. He'd already been over their apartment without finding any clues as to where she was.

"Not that I know of," Tseng shook his head, "She was just staying late and then going home."

"There's gotta be something around here somewhere," Reno muttered, picking his head up and making a mess of Elena's desk looking for anything that could shed some light on the situation, "I just don't get it. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt her. Unless it was just some random Shinra-haters, but it would take someone damn good to break into this place after dark."

"Well, I'm going to look around the route she would have taken home. There might be something there," Tseng put his cell into his pocket, "Call me if you find anything."

"I'll keep looking around here," Reno didn't even glance up to watch the man leave, "There's got to be something I'm missing." Racking his brain for anything he might have forgotten, Reno absentmindedly began to straighten up Elena's desk. Stacking the last of the papers neatly to the side, he was about to get up and look elsewhere when he noticed something under his hand.

A tiny bit of a white powder was smeared on the wood. _This is definitely something out of the ordinary._ Looking around, Reno grabbed a piece of paper and carefully scraped the powder off the desk and wrapped it up carefully. _Gotta figure out what this is. Might help. _Reno considered who could tell him what it was. He came up with no one other than someone he really didn't want to deal with.

"Hojo," he muttered with a sigh, "I don't wanna do this." He groaned. "Dammit, I so don't wanna deal with the damn bastard." As he headed to Hojo's lab, Reno thought about what he'd found and what it could mean. Clearly it was a drug of some kind. What exactly it was and what it did was what he needed to find out.

_Author's Note: Ok, so I promise things will start happening soon. Well you might have figured that out. =P I'm going to keep this note short, so I can write and then sleep! So please review, let me know what you think. I may be the only person in the world who is dying to hear your thoughts no matter what they are. Still that is no reason for mean reviews...I haven't gotten any, just to throw that in there. xD Constructive criticism is allowed, emphasis on the constructive. xD lol Anyway...thanks for reading. _


	22. Chapter 22

_Author's Note: Ok, so I'm seriously like at the end at this point. There aren't really going to be a lot of ideal cut off points, in fact there might not really be any. So even though this chapter is really short, and not really an ideal ending spot, I'm going to go ahead and post it because it's been awhile since I've posted. Hopefully, next time I post it will be like a super-chapter. Which will probably wrap things up. I might have one more after that just to close everything nicely but we'll see. So I apologize for this short, short chapter, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait like 2-3 weeks for an update! So enjoy and please, please, please review! xD_

Reno paused outside the heavy metal door that closed the scientist's lab off from the rest of the world. _I hate this guy._ Reno slammed the door open and walked in, seeing the man at once. The professor was at a table covered in complicated equipment meticulously adjusting various knobs and other machinery, carefully monitoring a beaker of clear liquid the whole time. Hearing Reno come in, he turned after a moment and smiled when he saw who it was.

"So you figured it out?"

"I need you to…what?" Reno stopped mid-sentence, holding out the wrapped up powder, confused by Hojo's words. The man's strange smile grew larger.

"Oh, you don't know do you?" Hojo put the clipboard he had been scrawling his notes on down on the table behind him while Reno watched, trying to figure out what Hojo was talking about, "Well, as long as you're here we might as well get to the point. I've got the girl."

It clicked in Reno's head a split-second before the words were out of Hojo's mouth. He stood in shock for a moment before flying at Hojo in a rage.

"If you want her to live…" he said these words very loudly, and then quieted down when Reno stopped, a few feet away, "You will calmly do as I say."

"Where is she?" Reno clenched his fists.

"Oh, locked up safely where she can't cause any trouble, and so you won't cause any trouble," Casting a small glance over his shoulder, Hojo continued talking, "I need your…assistance with a project of mine, and I had to ensure your cooperation. Somehow I think you'll be more willing when the well-being of something you value is on the line."

"I'm not doing anything until I see her. For all I know you don't really have her at all," Reno watched the man carefully, keeping the desperation from his face. He had to see Elena, see with his own eyes that she was ok. Hojo considered this for a moment.

"Very well, you can see her. Just to show you how very seriously she is in my power," Beckoning for Reno to follow, Hojo headed off deeper into the maze of complicated machinery and sinister-looking apparatus that made-up the scientist's lab. Finally coming to another door, the man tapped a code into the keypad and the door unlocked with a click.

"Try anything and you'll regret it," With these words Hojo opened the door and stepped aside to let Reno in. Hesitating slightly, the redhead to a cautious step into the dully lit room which seemed to be full of nothing but cages of different sizes, all empty. Hojo came into the room behind him and motioned toward a corner of the room. Reno looked in this direction in time to hear Elena.

"Reno!" She was in one of the larger cages, pressed up against the bars. Reno was by her in seconds, holding her hands through the cage. He looked at the lock as discreetly as he could.

"Don't bother," Hojo was standing just a few feet off, looking almost slightly amused, "You'll never get her out of there. Not alive at least." He chuckled, apparently finding this funny. "This whole cage is metal," he tapped one of the bars which made a metallic clang, "So an electrical current can be run through it nicely. Not so nice for whoever's inside. So now before we waste anymore of my precious time, will you be assisting me or not? You've seen her, you know what I can do."

Reno gazed at Elena, a pained look in his eyes.

"Don't do it, Reno," she grabbed handfuls of his jacket, holding him close to her, the bars a jarringly obvious separation, "This is Hojo! Who knows what he's got up his sleeve?" Her voice was pleading. She dropped to a whisper. "We'll find another way, we can get out of this. Don't let him pick our choices!"

"Elena," he stroked her face gently, his voice very sad, "There is no other way, these are the only choices. Well, really there's only one." He took one of her hands and kissed it softly, before letting go and backing away. "I'll do whatever you want, Hojo. Just don't hurt her." His voice was dead, emotionless and empty.

"Reno, don't!" Elena reached for him, but he was too far away. Hojo smiled, smugly triumphant.

"Come on, then. You've wasted enough of my time as it is." Reno turned to follow the man, looking at the floor.

"Reno!" Elena cried out one last time, her hand still outstretched even though he was across the room by now. He looked up, his eyes full of everything he couldn't say.

"I love you," he whispered, so quietly she heard it more with her heart than her ears. As the door clanged shut behind them, she sunk to the floor of her cage, despair surrounding and filling her.

_Author's Note: So I wrote this whole chapter like right after coming out of some AWFUL writer's block. So I was really happy to be writing again. =) So yeah...uhhhh Review! Thanks for reading! Watch closely for the next chapter!!!!! And (hopefully) many more stories to come! xD Love you guys. _


	23. Chapter 23

_Author's Note: TWO UPDATES IN A ROW! You guys are lucky. I'm having this insane writing spree. I guess it's because there's so much going on in my story right now, I know just what to say! It's so nice. I hate writer's block. I'm so happy it's gone now. xD Anyway, I know I said I'd probably end up doing one super big chapter and that would be it or something but I found another good stopping point so I decided to give you guys another chapter right away. xD So I really have no idea how many more chapters there will be. =P Anyway, read, review, repeat!_

"What do you want me to do? If I have to be your guinea pig don't make me sit around waiting," Reno stood there, watching Hojo fiddling with various items strewn about the table. _Just get this the hell over with._

"Oh, don't worry, everything will be in order in just a moment. It's very easy. In fact, you hardly have to do anything. I'm just going to inject this," Hojo grabbed a large syringe and proceeded to fill it with the clear liquid from the beaker, "and, well, you'll see." Here he turned to Reno. "Take off that jacket and roll your sleeve up." Reno did as he was told, holding his arm out to Hojo who grasped his wrist firmly with icy fingers. The man stuck the needle into the underside of Reno's arm, and emptied its contents into his bloodstream.

Reno gasped as, starting with his arm and slowly spreading, his whole body went cold. His vision flickered and he stumbled, grabbing onto the table for support. A short, searing pain racked his body for a moment before subsiding, leaving everything back to normal. Reno opened his eyes, which he had squeezed shut, and hesitantly stood up straight. _Was that it?_ He felt fine, and nothing seemed to be wrong. Something caught his eye in front of him and he looked at the table he had just been holding on to. A section on the edge of the metal table was bent out of shape. _A…handprint?_ A mirthless chuckle jerked his attention away from the table and to the man standing near him.

"Well that part worked at least," Hojo said, glancing appreciatively at the dent in the table, and then looking back at the Turk, "Now what about the rest…" He watched Reno closely, almost cautiously.

Upon seeing the scientist, Reno's anger flared up again at once and it was all he could do to keep from attacking the man right then. Slightly alarmed at the intensity of the bloodlust that had come upon him so suddenly, he took a few steps back and absentmindedly rubbed the spot on his arm where the scar from the injection was. _Scar! _Reno looked closer at it, and as he watched the slightly pink spot of skin slowly resumed normal appearance, matching the rest of his pale arm. He rubbed and poked it in amazement. There wasn't even a trace left. Still holding his arm, he slowly looked up at Hojo, who was smiling delightedly. Turning to the table, Reno uncertainly reached for the dent, carefully fitting his hand to it. _Perfect match._

"You did this!" Reno turned on Hojo, angry and anxious. _What else has the bastard done to me?_

"No, _you_ did that," the scientist continued his garish smile and began jotting notes down. In one swift movement, Reno grabbed him by the collar and lifted the man off his feet with one hand.

"What the hell have you done to me?"

"Put me down at once!" Hojo struggled in vain to free himself from the Turk's iron grasp. Reno swung him around and slammed the man into a wall, jarring the scientist heavily and leaving a small indent.

"No! You're going to tell me what you've done right now." Hojo was too stunned to do much of anything. A soft sound reached Reno's ears above his own enraged panting. _Crying?_ _Elena! _All his anger dissipated instantly and he let Hojo fall to the ground as he rushed to the door that separated the two rooms. Rattling the knob fruitlessly, Reno tried desperately to think of a code that Hojo would use. Coming up blank, he ran back to the scientist who was now picking himself up off the ground and rubbing the back of his head, still looking gleeful.

"It's worked marvelously," he muttered, holding up a hand as a signal to stop, "Did you forget our deal? You help me in return for the safety of your precious girl. If you don't cooperate…" he shrugged and pulled a small, black remote from one of the pockets of his coat, "We did discuss the cell she's currently residing in, didn't we?" This halted Reno at once.

"I remember," his shoulders slumped and he sighed, "What have you done to me, Hojo?" He clenched his fists at his side, trying not to think about how good it would feel to rip the man's throat out.

"I'll tell you in a moment. First I'm going to put you somewhere more safe before this gets any worse." Hojo headed toward the door to the room of cages. Reno opened his mouth to ask what was going to get worse, but decided Hojo wouldn't tell him then anyway, and gave up. Following the scientist towards the door, Reno instinctively began to walk silently, stalking closer to the man every step. He was seconds away from wrapping his hands around the man's throat in a death grip when Hojo pulled the remote from his pocket again. The image of Elena being hurt was enough to allow Reno to force his hands back to his sides. However, it was barely enough. Hojo entered in his code and pushed the door open.

"Reno, are you ok?" Elena's voice was urgent and relieved at the same time, "I heard lots of crashes and shouting. What happened? You're not hurt are you? What's that snake done?"

"I…don't know," Reno answered, unsure of the answers to all of her questions. Hojo was ushering him into a cell, a few away from Elena's. Reno stopped dead still, and would not be moved. "Hey, you never said anything about locking me up!" His muscles twitched as he struggled desperately to keep from throwing the scientist across the room.

"You said you'd do whatever I wanted, and this is definitely what I want. I'm dreadfully tired of your antics, so you'd better start cooperating or your girlfriend will get it." Reno knew he'd do anything to keep Elena from being hurt, but still, it was almost impossible to force himself to give in. Once Reno was locked away, Hojo took a few steps back and began smiling again.

"I'm still quite delighted to see my project going so well. There are a few things still uncertain to be sure, but for the most part it was successful."

"What is 'it' already?" Reno squeezed the bars tightly, wishing he was squeezing the life out of Hojo instead.

"Ah, yes. My job is to perform research and develop…anything really, that could be useful to Shinra, Inc. Your job is to provide bodyguard service, but mainly to do their dirty work. As well trained as you Turks are, a better, stronger, more efficient alternative is easily imaginable. This is what I have been working on for quite some time now, and you have the honor of being it's first human test subject." Here Hojo's voice grew almost excited and he moved closer to the cage Reno was locked in. "You have been injected with the performance-enhancing formula I have invented. Not only does it increase physical strength significantly, it also boosts the senses and, the most innovative part, it strongly accentuates the more ferocious and violent instincts producing a very effective bloodlust which eliminates hesitations when terminating a target. This, as I'm sure you realize, would obviously make missions much more efficient as well as increase the success rate with fewer injuries or losses for Shinra. In your years here you have probably experienced several occasions in which the hesitation of either yourself or a partner has produced negative results. With my new invention, that will be a thing of the past. It has it's problems of course, mainly that the subject becomes extremely violent and will attack anyone it sees. I haven't discovered a way to channel, if you will, the subject's ferocity to a specific target yet, but I suspect I shall before long. Currently I'm grappling with the question of concentration. The drug only lasts for a few hours before wearing off, and I'm trying to extend this time to roughly a week. Ideal length for longer missions. Over time the instincts of violence increase exponentially so this has been a bit of an issue." Hojo's voice drifted off as he became wrapped up in the notes he had in his hand.

"So it will wear off," Elena spoke up after silently taking in all the information Hojo had supplied, "And Reno will be back to normal, right?"

"That's what's supposed to happen, yes," Hojo didn't even glance up from his notes, "As to what _will_ happen, well, that remains to be seen. A percentage of the creatures it was tested upon didn't survive." Reno's head snapped up and he fixed a purely ferocious glare on the scientist.

"Damned bastard!" he strained against the bars, reaching to get a hold on Hojo, determined to break whatever he could get, "You didn't even work the _possible death_ bug out of this shit before testing it on me!" Sheer hatred pervaded every word he angrily spat out. Hojo looked up calmly, almost happily.

"I didn't say they all died. Twenty percent came through the experiment successfully." At this Reno growled and threw himself at the bars holding him back. Though they shook from the impact, the bars didn't give him an inch. Hojo just laughed.

"You're not getting out of there. Give it up," he turned and headed for the door, "I have some things to work through, I'll be back. And then we'll do some tests." Even once the door had clanged shut after the man, Reno continued to attack his cage on all sides in a fruitless effort to break free.

"Stop that," Elena spoke up Reno showed no signs of stopping after several minutes, "You'll hurt yourself." She spoke hesitantly, not really knowing how much Reno was himself right now.

"Shut up!" He cast her a glance just as venomous as the one he'd given Hojo. Elena flinched back from the edge of her cage, as if the words had physically struck her. _He's not himself._ She comforted herself, even though the way he'd spoken to her still hurt. Realizing he wasn't going to quit anytime soon, Elena sat and leaned against a wall, wrapping her arms around her knees and closed her eyes, praying that this would all end well.

_Author's Note: Dang this is so much fun to write! I love villians. xD lol Anyway, thanks so much for reading. You guys rock! xD_


	24. Chapter 24

_Author's Note: Wow this is just like it was at first...posting every night! Only at first I was able to do that because I had a ton written already. Now I can do it just because I'm freakishly able to write a ton! lol Anyway...here is another update! I know I said I would probably post one last huge chapter, but I think I'd rather do it like this. So yeah. xD Read, review, repeat!!!!_

Elena had a headache, and her ears were ringing. Reno had been banging around for roughly an hour she guessed, although it was hard to judge the passage of time when nothing around you changed. With a final, bone-jarring smash, Reno screamed in frustration and stopped, dropping to the ground and leaning against a wall. He remained silent, holding his head in his hands. Elena watched him, his sudden silence and stillness concerning her more than his berserk rage.

"Reno?" she whispered, anxious to see his reaction this time. She waited but there was no answer, he didn't even show any sign of having heard her. She got to her knees and crawled to the edge of her cage that was closest to his. They were still several yards apart.

"Reno?" she called again, a little louder this time. Still no answer. She was about to call again when the door swung open and Hojo came back in, frowning in concentration at the clipboard in his hand. He walked slowly, distractedly, across the room and finally came to a stop in front of Elena's cage. He finished scribbling on the paper, and looked up.

"Well someone seems to have calmed down," Hojo scrutinized Reno, muttered a few unintelligible words and scrawled something down before turning to Elena, "And how are we doing?"

"Very poorly," Elena glared up at the man, "Which might have something to do with the fact that you've locked me up in here like an animal!"

"Hmm, your reaction is to be expected, I suppose," Hojo smiled his twisted smile, "I suspect you will find you preferred your current situation soon."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked warily, after taking a second to process what he'd just said, "What are you going to do?"

"All in good time," Hojo walked over to stand in front of Reno's cage. He stood and looked for a moment before tapping his clipboard on the bars, making a loud and echoing sound.

Reno's head snapped up at once, and he was on his feet and at the bars lightening fast. Caught off-guard by Reno's super-human speed, Hojo just barely backed away in time to avoid being caught in a death grip. As it was, Reno managed to tear the clipboard from the man's hands. Snapping it like a twig with one hand, the pieces were hurled back at Hojo. The man was unable to avoid them but he threw his arms in front of his face in time to avoid what would have been a rather nasty blow. Still, the two pieces made contact with his arms with loud thumps.

Cursing under his breath, Hojo glared at Reno, who stood seething, furious that he was unable to escape his cage.

"I see the violence continues strongly," Hojo was clearly angered now, "Let's test just how strongly my little concoction works." Striding quickly back to Elena's cage, Hojo jerked a ring of shiny keys from his pocket and proceeded to unlock her cage.

"Try anything and the redhead breathes his last." Hojo opened the cage door and grabbed her tightly by the arm. Elena didn't dare attempt a rash escape and the walk back to Reno's cage was too quick for her to come up with a more sophisticated plan. Before she knew what was happening, Hojo had opened Reno's cage and thrown her in, slamming and locking the door just in time to back away before Reno could reach him. When freedom eluded his grasp this closely, Reno began shouting profanities and bombarding his cage again.

"You don't have to do that, you know," Hojo was smiling, more cruelly this time, "I imagine attacking that would be more fulfilling than your current target." Here he pointed to Elena, who was sitting on the ground where she'd been pushed, staring up in shock. Reno stopped his useless attack and turned, giving Elena a look that sent frightening chills down her spine.

"Hey, Reno, it's me!" she crawled backwards away from him slowly, even as he shifted, preparing to pounce. _He doesn't recognize me! That damned drug has completely taken him over! _Elena was frantic; if he attacked her there was no way she'd come out of there alive. _I can't match up to Reno normally, much less when he has freakish performance enhancers! _

With an animalistic snarl, Reno leapt toward her, grabbing her arms and throwing her against the wall with unnatural strength. Elena cried out as her head cracked loudly when it made contact with the wall. Reno had backed away, letting her sink toward the ground. Her head stung and tears blurred her vision which was already fuzzy from the impact. Before she could recover, he had her again, this time simply tossing her across the cage as if she was a pillow. After slamming against bars, she fell to the ground, curling up as an instinctive defense.

When Reno approached her again, grabbing her roughly, she looked up at him, fighting against the flickering of her vision from the repeated head blows. As they made eye contact, Elena felt him hesitate. Something in his face changed, and his hold on her loosened, becoming more gentle. Grasping desperately onto this tiny hope, she watched him breathlessly.

"Reno," she spoke very quietly, "Reno, you don't have to do this. It's not you, it's something else. Don't let it control you! I know you can." He shook slightly and his breath was coming quickly. She reached up slowly, and gently touched his face. The rage mostly cleared from his eyes and was replaced with frightened urgency.

"You have to get out of here," his voice was a hoarse whisper, "Before I seriously hurt you. I will and I can't stop it, don't let me hurt you!" Reno jumped up, pulling her to her feet, and backed away. When he was as far away from her as he could get, he turned his back to her and leaned his head against the bars. Elena stood where she was, unsure of what to do.

"So there is a limit…" Hojo watched Reno closely, than sighed, moving toward the cage door, "Well no need for you to remain in here any longer." Looking at Reno with a mixture of pity and relief, Elena was hurried out of the cell and back into her own.

Collecting his scattered notes, Hojo left the room, still ruffled from his narrow escape. Elena sat on the floor, shaken from her own narrow escape. _Thank you, Reno. _He had moved just enough to sit down with his back to her again, his head resting on his up-drawn knees. Every now and then his shoulders shook. Elena longed to be there next to him or at least speak reassuringly to him, but it was incredibly strange, seeing someone you knew so well yet not knowing if they were themselves or not.

Time passed - whether minutes or hours, there was no way to tell - before Reno moved. He slammed a fist into the concrete floor with incredible force, letting out a small cry. He got up and paced restlessly around his cage, occasionally smacking the bars that locked him away. Elena couldn't bring herself to say anything to him until he sat down again and began methodically punching the floor. From what she could see, his face was blank, but she thought she saw a tear trickle down his cheek.

"Reno, it's going to be ok," she spoke up finally, "We're going to get through this just fine. Tseng and Rude will know something's up, they'll find us. They're already looking for me, when you go missing too they'll be able to figure out what happened. They just need to figure out it was Hojo. Just hold on, we'll get out of here." Reno didn't reply or show any signs of having heard her, but he did stop punching the floor, instead sitting completely still with his hands laying limply in his lap.

_Author's Note: Now just in case it seems to some of you that this is getting repetitive, dont' worry. I'm about to mix things up soon. =P Please review and let me know what you think, I really enjoy getting your reviews. xD Thanks so much guys. On a random note, I recently rediscovered my great love for cookies and cream ice cream. Sometimes called oreo too. But whatever. xD I love it. So yeah..._


	25. Chapter 25

_Author's Note: Hey! As you may have noticed, I briefly lost my writing stint. =P I believe it's back though. So no worries! xD I want to apologize for taking a long time replying to your reviews, or not replying. I'm really busy and I seriously don't have a lot of time to be on my computer every day. So I'm doing my best! I promise you that I read and thoroughly enjoy each and every review though so please, don't think I don't see them! I appreciate and love them very much! xD We all know what it's like to be ridiculously busy. Like so busy that I wake up tired...we all know the feeling! I've been feeling a bit ill lately too, so I have good excuses!!! Anyway...enough about me! Here's an update, I hope you enjoy it. I trying my 100% best to make this as good as possible. Read, review, repeat! xD_

"Hmm, he appears to have moved into the second phase," Hojo stood in front of Elena's cell, clearly thrilled with his project. Elena looked up at the man disgustedly.

"What's the 'second phase'?" Her voice was tired.

"Currently he should be going through a variety of emotions in quick succession, all very acutely felt. This is caused by my invention of course. At first the drug produces extreme violence toward everything and everyone in general. As I've mentioned, I still haven't discovered a way to focus this ferocity toward a specific object. You see, the drug triggers the brain to produce the chemicals which make the subject become increasingly violent. You could almost say the drug takes over the body because it manipulates the emotions so intensely. The chemical balance of the brain is extremely delicate of course, so any tampering has it's consequences. I was able to avoid this by using small doses which wear off before any serious damage is done. However, I'm trying to create a version which lasts longer without killing the subject. This is incredibly difficult as the chemical imbalance eventually becomes too much and the brain shuts down, which, as even you must know, is fatal." As Hojo delivered his lecture, he was watching Reno carefully, making notes on a thick sheaf of papers which now replaced his clipboard.

"He's going to die?!" Elena stood up sharply and gripped the bars in between her and the scientist, "And you knew it would happen! How could you have put that drug into someone knowing that it was going to kill them!" Hojo's inhumanity sickened her. The calm, unbothered look he gave her was even more sickening.

"The advancement of science is far more important than a single life," Hojo spoke condescendingly, as if explaining something blatantly obvious to a child, "Besides, look at him. He kills for a living. His job is taking lives. In comparison, I'm an angel." Hojo smiled a malicious smile and laughed mirthlessly.

"What you say about him may be true," Elena's gaze on the man was ice cold, "But the rest is a twisted lie! Every life is worth something, even yours," she spat this at him bitterly, "Every life is exactly that! A life, Hojo. A whole life. And…oh, why do I even bother!" Elena threw her hands up and retreated to the opposite side of her cage, disgusted with the man. It was evident he wasn't even paying attention to her.

Pressing her hand against her face, hot tears began to trickle down her face. Reno was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it locked in this cage like some creature. Damn, there was nothing she could do if she was out of the cage. He was going to die and that sick, sick man was being paid to do it.

Hojo seemed to be through making his observations because he abruptly left the room without a word. Elena continued to cry quietly, despondency clutching at her heart.

A rough rustle drew her attention and she looked up to see Reno now laying on the concrete floor. He was on his side and she could see pain written on his face. She wiped the tears from her face, a new strength rising within her. Reno needed her. He couldn't help himself right now and she was just sitting here crying. Setting her jaw, Elena faced the situation with determination. _You're a Turk, the best there is. You can find a way out of here. _Tapping the metal bars with her knuckles, she quickly scratched that way off her mental list. _Way too strong_. Next she went for the lock, although she wasn't expecting anything.

Much to her surprise she discovered it was a surprisingly simple one. _Thought that would have occurred to Hojo…Well everyone can't be perfect. _Feeling the adrenaline giving her the kick she needed, Elena examined it again quickly. _With the right tools, I can pick this in no time!_ Going through her pockets, and racking her brain for anything that she could use, Elena came up empty-handed.

"Oh, not now," she groaned and put her head in her hands. _I was so close! _Something hard pressed against her fingers. Fingering it absentmindedly, it suddenly hit her. _A bobby-pin! Yes!_ It was the oldest trick in the book, but it actually worked. Pulling it from her hair, Elena clutched it triumphantly and uttered a silent prayer before carefully going to work on the lock.

Minutes later, the lock was picked successfully despite several close shaves. _Alright, what now?_ She drew deep, shaky breaths, preparing herself. Moving smoothly and swiftly, she slipped out of her cage and shut the bars behind her. _Leave whatever you can just as you found it._ She longed to go to Reno, but she had to find Hojo and gain control over him as soon as possible. Every second that passed lowered her chances of succeeding. Running lightly for the door, Elena was delighted to find there was no lock on the inside. _Never counted on something getting _out_ of one of these cages of yours, huh, Hojo?_

With nothing but a vague plan of action floating around in her head, she opened the door and crept into main room of the vast network that constituted Hojo's lab. Elena had her back to the door and before she made a move she glanced over the whole room, taking stock of her surroundings. Hojo was at a large, metal table across the room with his back to her. He was fiddling with some technical-looking apparatus and seemed very engrossed in his work. Holding her breath, she snuck up behind him quickly. She was so quiet that he didn't notice until she was almost right behind him. Hojo managed to half turn around when Elena punched him full in the face, putting her entire weight behind it. The forceful blow was staggering, and he reeled. Waiting a few seconds, Elena punched him again sending him sprawling on the floor.

_Author's Note: So I hope you liked it. xD We're moving forward! lol. So I hope this is actually as serious as I'm trying to make it. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with something that was actually believable and wouldn't just be ridiculous. I hope my effort is rewarding. xD Anywho...please review, they are bright shining spots in my day! lol Thanks for reading!!_


	26. Chapter 26

_Author's Note: So I didn't post again as quickly as I had hoped, but this chapter is pretty long so I think it's ok. xD The story is wrapping up! *sobs* It's so sad to be ending! I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be....last time I said there was only going to be one or two more chapters there ended up being like 10 more so...I'm not going to make an estimate this time. =P We'll just see how it goes. So in my last batch of reviews, I discovered that one of my readers is "in the field of science" to quote what he/she said. So I don't know if this means he/she is an actual scientist or studying science or what but I was very intrigued to learn this...and also a little freaked out. Because I put quite a bit of effort into coming up with some sort of experiment that was actually believable...and at least not blatantly contradictory from a scientific standpoint. And I was feeling pretty good about it. And then I realize a SCIENTIST is reading my story...so. I hope it wasn't something completely ridiculous! . All I had backing me on the logic behind this experiment of Hojo's is a highschool chemistry course...sooooo....yeah. xD Anyway...random interesting tidbit of the day. I'll let you guys actually read the update now. xD Read, review, repeat!_

When Hojo regained consciousness a few minutes later, he was surprised and enraged to discover himself bound expertly.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" He snapped at Elena, who was feeling much more confident now that she had recovered her handgun.

"I would speak nicely to the lady with the gun if I were you," she slid a full clip into the black gun in her hand, "On second thought, why don't you just keep your mouth shut?" This she added when Hojo opened his mouth again. It hung for just a moment before he snapped it shut and glared at her. "Let's get to the point. I don't give a shit how that heinous drug of yours works, or what it does, or how smart you are for coming up with it. If you can make it, you can fix it. So that's what we're going to do now, ok?" Elena smiled grimly, "I won't kill you as long as you make an antidote or whatever."

"Fine. But I will require the use of my hands," Hojo spoke grudgingly. Elena bent down to release him, keeping her gun in her grasp constantly, "As it so happens, I have the basics of an antidote already worked out. No scientist worth his weight creates a weapon like that without coming up with a way to resolve it." The man cleared his throat nervously, glancing frequently at Elena's firearm, and cracked his knuckles. Elena watched him like a hawk as he went about the room, gathering first a handful of notes and then several intricately labeled bottles of dark glass from a massive cabinet. Meticulously arraying these items on the table he'd been working at previously, Hojo began pouring over the notes, occasionally muttering something or scrawling something in the margin.

Elena watched his work with a stony face that expertly masked the turmoil she felt inside. She longed to go to Reno, release him from his cell, but she couldn't predict his reaction and right now she just couldn't risk anything. Hojo _had _to get this antidote made, it _had_ to work, and they _had _to be in time.

Hojo had been busily working at an antidote for quite some time now. Elena had no idea how long exactly, it all seemed almost like a dream to her. Time seemed to stand still yet also fly past.

"How much longer is this going to take, Hojo?" Elena did her best to make her voice stern and commanding, and succeeded mostly, except for the slight frantic tone that she couldn't suppress.

"Well, I had a formula worked through about halfway already. I simply must complete it. However the world of science revolves around experimentation, especially in an area that has had no previous exploration. I have managed to narrow it do-" his monologue was cut off sharply as the main door to Hojo's lab was thrown open with enough force to practically tear it off the hinges. Rude and Tseng burst in, guns drawn, quickly taking in the situation.

"Elena!" Tseng seemed mildly surprised to see her in this position, "I thought you were in trouble." Rude stood quietly next to the other man, showing no emotion, but Elena could tell he was livid.

"I was in trouble. And then Reno showed up and made a stupid, idiotic deal for my safety and then we were both in trouble. And now Hojo's in trouble." The scientist looked from one Turk to another and then calmly turned back to his microscope without a word.

"What deal? Where is he? And what's the professor doing?" Tseng asked.

"Reno agreed to be a test subject for one of Hojo's concoctions as long as Hojo promised not to hurt me. He's locked up in another room."

"We'll let him out," Rude moved toward the room.

"Don't. He's…not himself," Elena's voice was beginning to show the incredible stress she'd been going through for the past day, "The drug…it takes you over, makes you insanely violent. We can't let him out until we find a way to fix it."

"Well that's a very crude way to put this highly sophisticated work of genius," Hojo didn't bother looking at any of them, and continued speaking with a sigh, "Very well, since none of you seem to have any appreciation for groundbreaking scientific experimentation, here is the antidote. My tests indicate that this will 'fix' it." Here he presented a vial of a green liquid, "I make no promises, it's the best I can do on such short terms. It's a miracle I was even able to do that, considering the time-frame and that I was being held at gunpoint."

Neither of the other men said anything, although Hojo received many piercing glares.

"You'll need to inject it into the bloodstream," Hojo picked up a needle identical to the one used to inject the drug in the first place and soon handed it to Elena filled with the antidote. She immediately took off towards the room she'd been held captive in, Rude following at once.

Tseng was the only one who gave any further thought to Hojo.

"You're coming with us for now."

"Oh, of course," Hojo had regained his superior attitude, "I must observe what effect my antidote has upon the subject."

"Reno," Elena corrected icily, standing impatiently by the locked door waiting for Hojo to enter in his code, "His name is Reno."

Hojo gave her a condescending smile and tapped in his code before Rude pushed him out of the way and pulled open the metal door. Elena rushed over to Reno's cage followed closely by Rude and Tseng, who was keeping a careful eye on the scientist that accompanied them.

Reno was on his feet, leaning heavily against the bars. When they approached, he turned his head slightly to look at them. His face was paler than usual and his eyes were feverishly bright.

"Damned bastard," he muttered fiercely, glaring daggers at Hojo.

"We have an antidote, Reno," Tseng took the needle from Elena and stepped closer cautiously, unsure what Reno's reaction would be. The redhead watched him closely and lashed out suddenly when Tseng was within reach. Luckily, Tseng managed to jump back in time to avoid being hit.

"Reno, stop it!" Everyone turned to Elena, surprised at the outburst. "We're trying to help you! This is an antidote for that stupid drug of Hojo's that made you this way in the first place. Just please, please behave long enough for us to give it to you." Her voice had softened by the end and she bit her lip.

Reno had watched her the whole time she talked and now he just nodded, looking extremely weary suddenly. He held his arm out to Tseng who tried approaching again, this time getting close enough to grasp Reno's arm firmly, push up his sleeve, and inject the liquid. Reno let his arm fall limply to his side when it was finished. They all stood silently, wondering what would happen now.

"How long?" Rude was the first to speak, somehow directing his words to Hojo without looking at the man.

"I'm not sure," the man shrugged carelessly, "I've never tested it. I wouldn't imagine it would take too long. Once spread through the bloodstream, it will essentially negate the drug. Of course, I can't be sure if there are any side effects or not." Everyone was too tense to say anything. They all watched Reno. His eyes were closed now and he was leaning more and more heavily against the bars until they were supporting practically his entire weight. The only sounds breaking the silence were Reno's labored breaths, coming at irregular intervals. Slipping suddenly, he fell to the floor, making no move to catch himself. Rude had jumped forward in an attempt to catch him through the bars, but wasn't quick enough.

"Keys," Tseng demanded, holding his hand out to Hojo who pulled the desired object from his pocket. Tseng unlocked the cage and opened the door, stepping aside so Elena and Rude could rush forward while he remained near Hojo.

Reno had passed out and his skin was flaming hot to the touch. Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead and his whole head, neck, and chest were damp. Elena knelt by him and held his head in her lap, brushing his hair from his face.

"We should take him to the hospital." She looked up at Rude, her face mirroring the worry on his. Rude nodded and bent down to pick his friend up. Reno was very light, always having been skinny. Brushing past Hojo, they headed briskly for the door. Throwing the man's keys back to him, Tseng left with his other Turks.

"I'm not forgetting this," Tseng's voice was cold and hard.

"They won't fire me," Hojo smirked, "I don't have a replacement. Tell whoever you want, I'm not going anywhere."

Tseng slammed the door behind them, irked all the more by the truthfulness of Hojo's last statement.

_Author's Note: Elena pretty much saved the day here...I think it's good for here to kick some ass every now and then. =P Thanks for reading and please review!!!! xD_

_Oh, maiya, your reviews are left anonomously even though you sign your name so I'm unable to reply to them. I would really like to talk with you some more though so if you have an account, if you would sign in and message me that would be awesome. If you don't have an account, oh well. xD _


	27. Chapter 27

_Author's Note: So this is the last chapter. I'm kind of sad, but kind of happy at the same time. I sat staring at the last sentance for a couple minutes trying to decide if that was really the ending or not. =P I WILL be posting more stuff soon, I promise. I have a oneshot I was writing for someone that I will finish and post next and then I have a couple more oneshot ideas in mind. I also have the basics of another chapter story floating around in my head. I want to thank you all for reading, I never ever guessed that so many people would be interested in some story that I cooked up and wrote, but then again it IS Reno we're talking about so ...that's what we're all here for. =P Anyway. Thanks so, so much for reading and especially for reviewing. I really appreciate the reviews, you guys are all exceptional. Love you all!! xD_

They were already driving to the hospital when Reno came to. Elena was sitting with him in the back seat. Slumped against her, Reno's eyelids fluttered open and he groaned. Elena looked down at him the moment he made a sound. As soon as their eyes met, she bent forward and kissed him hard. He kissed her back before breaking away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "For everything."

"It's ok, it wasn't your fault." She held him close, happy to have her Reno back, but scared that she might still lose him. He leaned against her, staying very still with his eyes closed lightly, a pained frown on his face.

"It hurts, Elena," Reno's voice was barely audible, but clearly strained.

"We're taking you to the hospital now," she placed a hand on his forehead, feeling the heat that radiated from his whole body, "They'll take care of you."

"I hate the hospital…" he muttered.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Reno was only half-conscious. Tseng insisted Elena be looked over even though she protested that she didn't need it.

"We can keep arguing about it if you'd like," Tseng had his arms folded sternly, "But who do you think is going to win?" Elena sighed and allowed herself to be led away by a nurse only after Rude planted himself next to Reno with obviously no intention of letting the redhead be taken anywhere by himself.

After being declared medically sound except for fatigue, Elena was allowed to rejoin the other Turks. Reno was settled comfortably in one of the hospital beds he despised so much, awake but slightly hazy.

"They took some blood samples, checked his pulse, gave him some pain killers, and told us to wait," Tseng told Elena as she pulled a chair over to the side of the bed so she could hold Reno's hand, "What's your status?"

"I'm fine," Elena said, a hint of smugness in her tone, "Just like I said."

"Better safe than sorry," Rude spoke up, looking at her seriously, without his sunglasses on for once, an extremely rare occurrence. Elena shrugged, and turned back to Reno who grinned up at her.

"Maybe I'll get some time off," he said in a loud whisper.

"Like you actually work when you're at work!" Tseng smirked and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, that's not fair," Reno frowned, "I try very hard. I'm just easily distracted. And Elena's quite distracting." Here he grinned wickedly. Elena rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. Before she could reply, a doctor entered the room followed closely by a nurse. They were deep in conversation, their words dying off as the entered the room. Stopping at the end of the bed, the doctor just looked from one to another, a confused scowl on his face.

"Uh, this is very strange," he seemed to be struggling for words, "From analyzing the blood samples we stumbled across amounts of an unknown substance, possibly two. However, we were unable to isolate it or establish much information about it at all because it slowly vanished." The poor doctor was quite perplexed.

"So…is he ok?" Elena asked.

"Well yes, actually. He has a fever but it's not severe and hasn't gotten any worse for as long as we've been monitoring him. Other than that, there isn't anything abnormal about him. I don't know what this substance was however or where it came from or whether or not it will have any future side effects. We did manage to make a few observations but these are hardly conclusive." The doctor looked lost.

"Thank you for your time, doctor," Tseng said, steering the man away from any questions that might arise, "We're very grateful. We'll be taking him home now-"

"But we really should keep him here for observation," the doctor argued, "There is no way for us to determine what could happen, or even has happened to him."

"We shall keep a careful eye on him, and we will certainly let you know if anything odd occurs," Tseng's voice was stern, and clearly ended the conversation with finality. The doctor shrugged and muttered something inaudible although the word "Turk" could be heard. The man retreated quickly, leaving them with the nurse who had Tseng sign a few papers before she too left the room.

"So… I'm free to go?" Reno asked. Tseng nodded.

"Wait here for a minute, I'm going to step out and make a few calls." Tseng left the room, leaving the other three by themselves.

"I like to confuse doctors," Reno said smugly.

"It's just because you're so screwed up," Elena scoffed, "Not really something to be proud of." The redhead pretended to be offended.

"Why, Elena! That's very hurtful. You don't love me!" he cried out dramatically, flopping over so his back was to her.

"Oh, come on," Elena stood up and leaned over him to kiss his flushed cheek, "You know that's not true."

"Prove it," he shot back, trying not to smile.

"I shouldn't have to, you should just know." Turning back to her, Reno became serious suddenly.

"I know. I do." Before he could get any further, Rude cleared his throat loudly and when they looked over at the other Turk, he was pointedly enthralled in the view from the window which basically consisted of other buildings. Reno's eyes sparkled and he held back his laughter.

"Oh, Elena, I love you soooooo much!" he said in an exaggerated tone, wrapping his long arms around her neck and pulling her down so he could press his face against her neck. Rude turned on them with a glare. Luckily for Rude, or maybe Reno and Elena, Tseng came back at this point.

"I just spoke with Rufus," he said, giving Reno and Elena a strange look, "And while they obviously can't fire the man, he's going to warn him to leave us all alone in the future or risk getting a funding cut. It's not completely satisfactory, but it's the best we can hope for. Also, I retrieved the blood samples they had taken, just in case, and the notes they had on Hojo's drug. We may have our differences with the man, but at the end of the day we are still Turks and our job is to protect Shinra's best interests, which in this case means covering up for their deranged scientist's experiments."

"Whatever," Reno mumbled, rolling out of the hated hospital bed and on to his feet, taking just a moment to catch his balance, "I wouldn't let him get near any of us ever again anyway. Then again, he probably values his funding well enough to leave us alone."

"Hurray," Elena spoke sarcastically, "That's one less person who wants to kill and/or do horrible things to us that we have to worry about."

"Hey, we've all got each other, if no one else. So if the rest of the world wants to hate us, well screw them." Reno draped an arm over Elena's shoulders, looking very serious.

"True," Elena replied, and the others nodded in agreement, "Let's get you home. You may be feeling much better but you still have a bit of a fever. You need to rest." Reno rolled his eyes, but grinned and didn't complain.

Later, Reno was curled up in bed sleepily watching Elena as she went about the room, straightening things and getting ready for bed herself.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" she asked before settling down.

"Nope," Reno managed to untangle himself enough from the blankets to hold his arms out to her. Smiling, Elena climbed into bed and crawled over to him, settling herself in his arms. Sighing contentedly, he pulled her closer and closed his eyes, her head tucked under his chin. She reached up and placed a palm on his cheek, then felt his forehead with the back of her hand. He was still very warm, but the fever was definitely going down. Gently rubbing his chest rhythmically, she began drifting off to sleep quickly, exhausted.

"Elena?" His voice was quiet, still sleepy, but serious and thoughtful.

"Hmm."

"I will always have you here with me, right?"

"No matter what," Elena leaned up to kiss him deeply, "Forever."

_Author's Note: So that's the end then. Even though this is the last chapter, don't forget to review! xD Maybe even if you haven't reviewed before you might could spare a minute or two to tell me what you thought of the story as a whole. I love getting those reviews. xD I promise to reply to each and every one, I know I've slacked off a bit lately. I can't reply to the anonymous ones, but trust me, that are just as treasured as the others! I hope to see you all back again for the new stories I hope to post soon! _


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